Guest columnists are an opportunity for any magazine to freshen things up and long before he became a regular contributor to Rugby World, Frank Keating was in the guest slot from time to time, as in May 1979 when he was there to remark on the final passing of the great Welsh team of the 1970s into history.
The great JPR Williams was the last man standing after Barry John, Gareth Edwards, Phil Bennett et al had hung up their boots, and Keating was there to watch his final game against England in the climax to the 1979 Five Nations. Of course, Wales tore up the script by thrashing England 27-3 at the Arms Park, JPR among the tries as his side won the championship once again.
For all that, Keating’s lyrical goodbye to a side that still dances around the rugby fields of the world in the memories of afficionados of a certain age is one worth reading and re-reading again and again. As a taster here’s his final farewell to the great JPR.
“I’m not sure of all these scarlet pimpernels, JPR was not the most original and breathtaking wizard of the lot. History and the length of man’s memory will determine that. But his spirit, nature, will and instinct that demanded he turn defensive indestructibility into heroic counter-attack is the very definitive stuff of sport.
“On the morning of the Welsh trial last year, JPR’s Ford Capri crashed into a tanker in a narrow lane near Llansannor. He was shaken but, of course, he still turned out that afternoon. It inspired a Welsh poet, Tom Bellion, to write a piece entitled ‘JPR collides with tanker – the tanker spent a comfortable night in hospital but is expected to recover.’ Exactly. What a man! We will miss him terribly.”
We do Frank, we do. Read his full, glowing tribute to those greats here.
