>> The Peter Jackson column
His name is synonymous with a revered American president and a famous Belgian detective and in Nice last night Jefferson Poirot struck a blow for the humble prop. In recognising the leadership of the Bordeaux loosehead by making him captain of Les Bleus, France chose to swim against the tide, thereby evoking memories of a Welshman who holds a unique record, so unique that it will come as news to the Red Dragon Brotherhood.
John Lloyd is the only prop to have captained his country throughout an entire post-war season without losing. In 1971-72 he led Wales to victory in all four matches and the selectors, the so-called Big Five, expressed their gratitude by dropping him for the opening match of the following season against the All Blacks.
That was at a time when members of the ‘Donkeys’ Union’ tended to be dismissed as all brawn and little brain, derided for a lack of rugby nous: “Well you can’t expect a prop to run and think at the same time.’’
Nobody ever dared accuse Lloyd of that, nor other mighty members of the species like Fran Cotton. Yet for all his fame as a triple-tour Lion, Cotton captained England only three times and lost all three.
Jason Leonard managed two and won both, each a one-off appointment. Ray McLoughlin, a cornerstone of the Lions’ one winning series in New Zealand nearly 50 years ago, captained Ireland eight times in the mid-Sixties.
A more recent Lion, Dai Young, lasted long enough to captain Wales 12 times at the turn of the century but made almost as many losing speeches as he did winning ones. Phil Vickery wore the England armband 15 times but no country can claim more spectacular success under the command of a prop than Scotland.
They won successive Grand Slams under different looseheads, Jim Aitken in 1984, David Sole six years later. Iain
‘Mighty Mouse’ McLauchlan had blazed a trail of sorts, filling the role on 19 occasions during the Seventies.
Nobody comes close to the most successful prop-captain, Sir Wilson Whineray. Yet despite a record of losing a mere three Tests out of 30 over a sevenyear period, none of his predecessors has led the All Blacks since Whineray hung up his boots in 1965.
All of which makes Lloyd’s winning streak all the more unusual. It was hardly his fault that the selectors chose to protect his record against further exposure by taking him out of the firing line.
Their preference for the uncapped Glyn Shaw from Neath meant the captaincy passing to Ebbw Vale centre Arthur Lewis via Llanelli lock Delme Thomas. Lloyd heard about it from the usual source in those days, the newspapers.
“I was surprised not to be picked but you had to lump it,’’ he said, an understatement given that Lloyd’s Wales were the first, and so far only, team to be denied a Grand Slam for political reasons behind the cancellation of their match in Dublin at the height of ‘The Troubles’ in 1972.
Lloyd, at 76 living in contented retirement in Bridgend, had succeeded John Dawes as captain and reeled off wins against Canada, England, Scotland and France. His record at club level made him a worthy choice despite competition from Jeff Young, Gareth Edwards and a young Mervyn Davies.
“Nowadays they look for people in the back row or those who can see the game from behind the scrum,’’ Lloyd says. “The nature of the job makes it impossible for a prop to see everything but I’d done a good job captaining Bridgend.
“Perhaps we should have gone to Ireland but the WRU made the decision not to go because of an IRA threat. I couldn’t do anything about it.’’
Lloyd regained his Wales place in 1973, albeit briefly and coached the national team for two seasons in the early Eighties. Whether Jefferson Poirot can match his winning hat-trick remains to be seen.