The passing of the great Phil Bennett on Sunday evening comes after the loss of John Dawes and JJ Williams in recent years.
Ex-Neath prop Glyn Shaw also left us recently.
Terribly sad times, then, for friends and families and all in Welsh rugby to endure.
What has become of Wales players from the golden decade of the 1970s? Here we look at those heroes we've lost and what their team-mates do now.
Read more:
How the modern generation compare to the 1970s greats
Phil Bennett
There'll never be another.
Wales skipper for the 1977 and 1978 campaigns, the diminutive fly-half from Felinfoel inspired a generation with his style, running and class, while he was also humble and generous off the field, a man of the people liked by pretty much everyone.
Scored arguably the greatest Welsh try of all-time, against Scotland in 1977, and triggered what’s widely widely viewed as the greatest-ever touchdown with his sidestepping at the start of the flowing move that ended with Gareth Edwards scoring for the Barbarians against New Zealand in 1973.
Benny also figured for Llanell in their win over the All Blacks and in two Wales Grand Slam campaigns. Went into after-dinner and became a pundit and newspaper columnist after finishing playing. Left us this week aged 73 after battling a long illness.
Ray Gravell
A one-off who added bite to the Welsh midfield and formed a legendary partnership with Steve Fenwick. The great cartoonist Gren once summed up Grav’s on-field presence by drawing a fan waving a banner bearing the legend: “Gravell eats soft centres.” No opposition midfield player is known to have questioned the essence of those words.
The west Walian mixed passion, tenacity and fervour for Llanelli and Wales with famous insecurities that endeared him to so many. People liked the humour, too, of a man who once said: “Get your first tackle in early, even if it’s late.”
He became an actor, a broadcaster and inimitable pitchside presence and interviewer after his playing days finished. He developed diabetes but retained his jovial disposition and fierce optimism, especially about Welsh rugby. Passed away in 2007 after a heart attack. He was just 56.
JJ Williams
A sprinter fast enough to race in the Commonwealth Games, he scored 12 tries in 30 Tests for Wales, offering a serious cutting edge from the left wing. Williams helped his country to four Five Nations titles, including two Grand Slams, and played his club rugby for Bridgend and Llanelli. Taught and then worked in marketing and also prominent as a TV and radio pundit who didn’t shy away from telling it as he saw it. In later life, he became a self-made millionaire through his industrial painting business. Confident, bold and outspoken, the master of chip-and-chase did it his way. He died of cancer in 2020.
Mervyn Davies
Wales’ captain for their 1976 Grand Slam, the much-respected Davies is viewed as one of the greatest No. 8s of all time. Rangy and mobile, he was a commanding presence at the back of line-outs and a force around the field — it’s been estimated saved 40 tries with his tackling for Wales. Merv the Swerve was also blessed with a sharp rugby brain and leadership skills. He played 38 times for his country and lost just once in eight Tests for the Lions. The great New Zealander Colin Meads said of him after the Lions’ series win over the All Blacks: “People talk about the Lions backs and they were outstanding, but Mervyn Davies beat us with his work at the back of lineouts.” Davies’ playing days were ended after he suffered a brain haemorrhage during a Welsh Cup semi-final between Swansea and Pontypool in 1977. He became an after-dinner speaker and well-regarded pundit in later years, passing away in 2012 at the age of 65 after fighting cancer.
John Dawes
“If the public address man announced John Dawes was missing through injury, the crowd would not bat an eyelid,” Barry John wrote in his autobiography in 2000. “In the dressing room, however, there would be a mood of panic because we knew just how important his presence was to the way we played.”
Dawes may not have received the plaudits that came the way of international team-mates Gareth Edwards, John, Gerald Davies, JPR Williams and Mervyn Davies, but without the great visionary in the centre the 1971 Grand Slam-winning Wales team would not have functioned as it did.
He was the man who inspired with his thinking and pointed the way forward. Dawes also led the Lions to glory in New Zealand in ’71 and went on to coach Wales to clean sweeps in 1976 and 1978. Became the Welsh Rugby Union’s salaried coaching organiser while the game was still amateur. Later became London Welsh’s president. He died in 2021 aged 80.
John Bevan
The Aberavon fly-half famously chosen ahead of Phil Bennett for the 1976 game with England, Bevan and the other No. 10 in the squad, David Richards, subsequently withdrew because of injuries, with Bennett coming into the side and never to be dropped by his country again.
Schoolteacher Bevan was a deep thinker on the game and made the Lions tour of New Zealand in 1977 without playing in the Tests. His club partnership with Clive Shell was a superb one. Bevan coached Aberavon and Wales. Struck down by ill-health, he passed away in 1986 at the age of just 38.
Clive Burgess
Known as The Steel Claw because of his famed mauling strength, he was an ever-present member of the Wales team that won the Triple Crown in 1977. Not an household name compared to others such as Gareth Edwards, Gerald Davies and Phil Bennett, the no-nonsense Ebbw Vale blindside was nonetheless highly regarded by team-mates. Recalled to the Wales team in 1981, he went on to be feted as Welsh player of the year. The former merchant navy seaman later went to live in Italy, returning there twice a year. “A lot of players from the seventies were small by today's comparisons, but Clive would have been a very effective ball-carrier playing today,” Gareth Edwards once said.
Burgess died in 2006 aged 55.
Jeff Young
A fine hooker who’d been part of the Grand Slam-winning Wales team of 1971, Young had toured with the Lions in South Africa three years earlier and won a cap in a Test. "Jeff was one of those players you always wanted on your side,” Mervyn Davies said of him.
Famously incurred the wrath of New Zealand’s Colin Meads on tour in 1969. He'd been blocking one of the game’s most fearsome enforcers and had been warned to desist if he didn’t want to cop trouble. How did Young respond? “I said f**k off,” he later told team-mates through a wired-up jaw. "The trouble was I didn't say it very loudly."
A punch from Meads had done the damage.
Young was teacher and then a wing commander in the RAF. He also became the Welsh Rugby Union’s first technical director. After he left the union, he took the reins at Harrogate as director of rugby before returning to teaching. He later suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and died in 2005.
Glyn Shaw
Granite-hard prop who became a dual-code international after switching to rugby league.
Shaw didn’t take long to earn respect for his toughness in 13-a-side.
He had previously been renowned as a formidable union front rower, featuring for Neath and Wales. When he passed away recently, the Welsh All Blacks referred to him as “one of the mightiest forwards ever to play for Neath RFC”. For the avoidance of doubt, there have been plenty of mighty forwards who have worn Neath colours.
Gerald Davies
To watch Gerald Davies in full-flight was an experience to compare with close on anything else in rugby. Arrowing down the right wing, the west Walian possessed the ability to sidestep at top speed which made it immensely difficult for other wings to defend against him. Featured in three Welsh Grand Slam sides and was part of the Lions squad that triumphed in New Zealand in 1971.
Became a journalist after the end of his playing days and went on to head up the Wales Youth Agency. Managed the Lions on tour in South Africa in 2009 and took up the presidency of the Welsh Rugby Union in 2019.
Barry John
His nickname of ‘King’ says it all. John had extraordinary gifts and was a stellar performer for Cardiff, Wales and the Lions.
Some of a certain vintage maintain he’s the best fly-half they have seen.
Some even view him as the greatest rugby player they’ve seen.
He quit at the peak of his powers in 1972. Worked as a newspaper columnist and TV pundit thereafter.
Now 77, he is retired and living in Pontcanna.
Steve Fenwick
The man who did so much to anchor the Wales backline in the second-half of the 1970s.
Ice-man Fenwick kicked goals, defended stoutly, organised and could handle, as evidenced by his sublime flick to Phil Bennett for the unforgettable Wales try against Scotland at Murrayfield in 1977.
Fenwick worked as a teacher and then set up Triple Crown Industrial Chemicals, a chemical supply company, with his old mate Tommy David. For the past 20 years, he has worked in recruitment and last year took up a role as business development manager with Darcy Associates.
He’s now 70 and when WalesOnline spoke with him in 2021 he had no urge to head into retirement.
Delme Thomas
One of Phil Bennett’s greatest friends and a man who earned his place in history by leading Llanelli to victory over New Zealand in 1973, with his pre-game speech becoming the stuff of legend. The lock with a blacksmith’s arms also distinguished himself for Wales and the Lions.
Found it hard after finishing as a player, with depression hitting him to such an extent that he was admitted to hospital.
Happily, the electricity board linesman made a full recovery.
Now 79, he’s still revered in west Wales and hugely respected beyond.
John Taylor
Most remembered for slotting the late, late conversion that helped Wales defeat Scotland 19-18 at Murrayfield in 1971 — no John Taylor, no Welsh Grand Slam that year — but he performed superbly on the openside flank for Wales over a period of six years and for the Lions in New Zealand in ’71, when he played in all four Tests.
London-based, he became ITV’s lead rugby commentator for 16 years.
Ray ‘Chico’ Hopkins
Just the one Wales cap for Chico, but what an appearance it was, with the scrum-half from Maesteg appearing off the bench against England in 1970 to inspire a remarkable comeback win. The former football player was an excellent tactical kicker and a dodging runner who followed being named Welsh rugby’s player of the year by winning a Test cap on tour with the Lions in New Zealand the following year. Also featured for Llanelli in their win over the All Blacks.
Had a spell in rugby league but suffered from depression on returning home.
He eventually recovered and worked in the buying and selling business. You can read more about Chico's life here.
Despite playing at a time when Gareth Edwards ruled the scene, he will always believe he was worth more than one cap.
JPR Williams
The man who locked up the Welsh defence at the back. Twelve years in the Wales side and barely a tackle missed in all that time. Never lost to England. Three Grand Slams. Never shirked anything. Stood toe to toe with the All Blacks and the Springboks for the Lions. An all-time great. “Nobody had the commitment that JPR had,” his old Bridgend and Wales team-mate Steve Fenwick said last year. ““I remember once we played against Scotland on the Saturday and then Monday night it was Bridgend and Cross Keys. You are trying to get off the old hangover from the night before, but that game was as important to JPR as the Wales-Scotland game. I can remember him being bundled into touch and fighting with their flanker, punching his way out. I was thinking: ‘I couldn’t do that, I couldn’t get that excited.’”
No ordinary soul, then.
A former surgeon, the 73-year-old is now retired, living in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Gareth Edwards
So good he’s still rated by many as the greatest rugby player ever, decades after he packed in playing. Scored what’s widely seen as the greatest try of all time, for the Barbarians against New Zealand, and played 53 times for Wales. For the Lions, he lost only two of 10 Tests. A key figure in Wales Grand Slams in 1971, 1976 and 1978.
If rugby is being played in 300 years time, the probability is he’ll still feature in any discussion about the game’s greatest player.
Became a TV personality and director after ending his playing days.
Graham Price
The cornerstone of Wales’ success in the second half of the 1970s, the Pontypool RFC legend was a world-class tighthead decades ahead of his time. He could scrummage but he could also get around the field at a time when it wasn’t fashionable for props to do any such thing.
After finishing playing he became a successful after-dinner speaker and a popular newspaper columnist, a role he still holds down for WalesOnline.
Allan Martin
The middle-of-the-line jumper in the Wales teams that won four successive Triple Crowns from 1976 to 1979, with two Grand Slams included among the haul, he provided a stream of ball for the backs to use. Martin also toured twice with the Lions.
The amiable lock taught PE for 14 years and started his own business, Sportec Embroidery & Printing, selling sports and school wear, embroidered badges, printed T-shirts and more besides, with son Steve later taking over.
A spell living on the Algarve followed before a return to Wales.
Terry Holmes
Legend who broke into the Wales side at the age of 21 on the tour of Australia in 1978. The following season Holmes helped steer Wales to a Five Nations Triple Crown. His brilliance behind beaten packs was to mark him out as an all-time great.
Injuries blighted a spell in rugby league but Holmes later enjoyed a stint in coaching. Went on to work in property development.
Celebrated his 65th birthday earlier this year.
Gareth Davies
Succeeded Phil Bennett as Wales’ fly-half and earned respect for his efforts, with Davies blessed with a big kicking game and ability as a game-controller. Alongside Holmes, he helped deliver a Triple Crown in 1979, with the pair having come within a whisker of being part of a winning Wales team against New Zealand the previous autumn.
Davies quit Test rugby in 1985 after lamentable treatment at the hands of the Wales selectors.
He went on to have a notable post-playing career, with his roles including a stint as assistant director of CBI Wales, head of sport for BBC Wales and commissioning editor for S4C (sports and events).
The west Walian was also chief executive of Cardiff RFC and chairman of the Welsh Rugby Union until 2020.
