A former Wales B forward used to rate Paul Turner as his toughest opponent as he didn’t have a clue what he would do next.
Heck, Turner even kicked goals with either foot.
There’s footage online of him slotting a penalty with his right boot for Newbridge against Western Samoa, then, minutes later, hooking over a wonderful shot from near the touchline with his left.
The tourists to Wales could have been forgiven for thinking that for his next trick he'd disappear in a puff of smoke.
Turner could step, shimmy, dummy and, most importantly of all, control matches because of his rugby intelligence and array of skills. The man of Gwent always seemed to have the priceless gift of time in an era where fly-halves who weren’t blessed with such a quality were invariably nailed by opposition flankers. At times, it could seem as if he were operating in a different dimension from everyone else on the field. As playmakers go, there were few better.
Yet he played just three times for Wales.
Answers on a postcard, please.
These days, he’s coaching Ampthill in the English Championship, having guided them there from the far side of nowhere. Last weekend they beat Welsh Cup holders Newport 54-12 in a pre-season friendly. The English club were clinical. “It was a strange old game,” says Turner of the match against a club for whom he amassed a then club record 1,145 points.
“In terms of possession it was fairly even, but we took our chances and the scoreboard kept ticking over.
“I think they were without a few guys. Matt O’Brien and Will Reed didn’t play, nor did Dai Richards, the full-back. I know Matt really well. He was 14 or 15 when I was at the Dragons.
"But we were short of a few, too.
“Ultimately, we were just pleased to bank the win. It was only a friendly and you can’t read too much into it, but it was a nice hit-out for us.”
Turner is based in Shakespeare country of Stratford-upon-Avon these days, having moved from St Albans, where he had lived for 23 years. On departing the Dragons in 2011 he maintained his links with Welsh rugby and took on a talent-spotting role with the Welsh Exiles.
He still tracks the game in Wales, complete with its seemingly never-ending rows, self-interest and questionable governance, to list but three of the many problems.
But he doesn’t profess to have a silver bullet for such matters.
“It’s difficult to comment from afar,” he says.
“The issues over the Welsh Premiership are not necessarily new. When I was at the Dragons we sent out the likes of Danny Lydiate, Toby Faletau and Gareth Maule to bank rugby at the clubs in our area. There could be animosity at times over who got what, but what we were trying to do was come up with an ideal situation.
“I guess that’s still the aim, but people differ over what the ideal situation looks like.
“We have a situation in England where Premiership clubs are kind of fitted with Championship clubs, but it’s hard to get a formula that suits everyone.
“People just need sit around the table. Then, again, I accept that sometimes even that can be hard to pull off.”
Turner helped turn his hometown club of Newbridge into a force in the 1980s, the rest of the side responding to his prompting. They were one of only four teams to beat Neath in 1988-89 and finished third in the unofficial Welsh Championship.
A different world on, he still feels passionately about the game this side of the River Severn.
“People say it’s not like it used to be and of course they are right,” he says.
“But I hate it when people [criticise Welsh clubs].
“It wasn’t so long ago that sides in Wales were putting out great performances in the British & Irish Cup against Championship teams.
“It has changed around, but, that said, on their day teams like Cardiff, Newport, Pontypridd, Merthyr and Aberavon would do well in the Championship.
"But, of course, the chemistry behind it all would need to be right.”
Let’s focus on the Welsh contingent at Ampthill, with No. 8 Morgan Strong having just arrived from the Ospreys, three-quarter Ben Cambriani regularly starring, Cai Devine having played for Wales Sevens and Gwyn Parks voted by fans as player of the year in the BUCS Super League last term. You can read more about Cambriani being named in the Championship team of the year here.
“They’re all good boys,” says Turner.
“Morgan came to us just this summer, but there’s huge potential there. He’s had a good pre-season and showed up well in our game with Newport.
“Ben was our player of the year last term.
“He can play 13 but he’s figuring on the wing at the moment. He was on fire last season, and he's a good kid and a bright rugby player. You can tell he’s been through an academy system, while he has a bit of X-factor as well.
“I knew the name because his dad, Adrian, played union in my time before going to rugby league.
“We were delighted when he came to us.
“Young players years ago were different back in the day.
“These are mature boys. You speak to them and they are on the money with a lot of things.
“It was a brave decision by Morgan and for a lot of the boys to up sticks from Wales and come and live and play in England.
“Morgan is polite, he doesn’t over-talk himself, with Ben the same. They’ll offer their opinions and that’s good. They adapt really well.
“I look at these boys and think back to what I was like at that age, when I was 20 or 21. It was an amateur game back then, which could get a bit tasty at times and I was playing in the unofficial Welsh Championship and the Merit Table. Could I have gone over the Bridge then? I didn’t leave until Wales after I’d been capped, in 1992, when I was past 30. I look at these boys, and while I know the world has changed, it’s still a young age for them [to be uprooting]. I guess it’s part of their trade nowadays, leaving their country and going to find rugby somewhere else.
“Some of them have picked up work in the area, they live there and they just get on with their rugby.
“The world has changed, rugby has changed.
“What we are doing for these boys is getting them playing, which is crucial for their development.”
Turner was also impressed by two other Welsh youngsters who spent time at Ampthill — Sam Costelow, the Scarlets’ fly-half, and Harri Morgan, the young Ospreys No. 9.
“Both very good players,” he says.
“They are also mature for their ages.
“Sam turned up with the club just before lockdown. On his first night, before he had even met any of our players, he ran a talk on our back plays and everything, having done his homework before he arrived.
“He’s a good player and a lovely kid.
“Same with Harri.
“He had man of the match in his first game but unfortunately picked up an injury.
“If he stays clear of injuries, he’ll go a long way.
“What he needs is a run of games.
“Both of them will go far in rugby.
“That said, it’s about taking opportunities when they come along. Always has been.”
With that, the chat is over.
In training at Ampthill, it is said some youngsters still look in awe at Turner — “you can seem them thinking ‘wow’,” director of rugby Mark Lavery once said. “He reads the game far better than anyone, he spots things on the sideline that maybe one percent of the rugby population can spot and he makes changes that can win games.”
Good value is Paul Turner.
Always good value.
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