The All Black responsible for the infamous stamp which ripped open JPR Williams’ face has spoken out on the incident, calling it unfortunate. Many would feel that is putting it somewhat lightly.
John Ashworth trampled on Williams during the Bridgend v New Zealand match at the Brewery Field in 1978, leaving the Welsh legend’s face an ugly mass of blood. Willliams' father Peter, a doctor, inserted 30 stitches in his son’s wounds before the full-back returned to the field of play. Steve Fenwick, a team-mate that day, later said his fellow international “looked like Frankenstein’s monster” after coming back onto the pitch, while there was also uproar at the post-match dinner when Peter Williams, who was giving a speech, drew attention to the incident, with 10 All Blacks walking out.
Now Ashworth has revisited one of rugby’s most notorious episodes. In an interview published with the New Zealand Herald the ex-prop and now vineyard owner turned back the clock to the incident which occurred on a rain-swept December day more than 43 years ago. According to Ashworth, no malice was intended.
"It was unfortunate," he said. "JPR was on our side of the ruck with the ball tucked in under his arm. And somehow with me trying to dig it out I made contact [with his face] and things sort of went pretty crazy for a while after that."
Some might describe missing a bus or burning a piece of toast as unfortunate, but, hey ho, words can mean different things to different people. Certainly, Williams himself has his own views on what happened, later saying: "He came in and raked me, tearing a huge hole in my cheek. I lost two pints of blood and had to get 30 stitches."
It was all too much for JPR’s father, then Bridgend RFC’s president, who said during his post-match speech that incidents witnessed during the match made him regret encouraging his sons to take an interest in rugby. His remarks prompted the All Blacks to head for the exit door.
According to Ashworth, he was ordered not to join them by Bridgend’s "tough front row". "The Welsh guys said, 'You are not going anywhere. We are going to drink a bit of p**s together'," he claimed.
Only later did All Blacks team manager Russ Thomas realise the player who was never going to win any popularity contests in Bridgend that night — or ever since, for that matter — was missing. "Russ Thomas came rushing back thinking I was in some sort of situation, but there I was sitting with the Bridgend opposition having a few beers," he said.
Happy days? Not immediately after the match, won 17-6 by New Zealand. There was more than a touch of ill feeling following a game which had been punctuated by sledging. Things boiled over in the toilet area of the dressing rooms when a Bridgend forward queried aloud whether All Blacks prop Kent Lambert spelled his first name like a similar-sounding expletive.
"There were a few shenanigans after the match,” Fenwick’s midfield partner that day, the hugely respected Lyndon Thomas, later told WalesOnline. "One of our boys made a remark which didn’t exactly go down well and when an objection came in, he told the bloke in question to go forth and multiply or something close to that. There was never a question of anyone backing down because we were up against the All Blacks."
A postscript played out in 2008 when a tourist to Ashworth’s vineyard informed his Kiwi host that he knew Williams. A bottle of wine was duly dispatched to the Vale of Glamorgan as a peace offering, but it failed to do the trick. "I should be grateful but I won’t be sending him a Christmas card," Williams had said.
When the 40th anniversary passed in 2018, the great No. 15 was still waiting for someone to utter the word 'sorry'. "I have never had an apology," he told WalesOnline. "New Zealand even named him as a substitute for the game with the Barbarians the following Saturday, a case of rubbing salt in the wound if ever there was one. The match ended with the crowd booing. The wine? A bottle of white wine was delivered to my house years later. It didn't taste that good."
Williams is remembered the world over for his fearlessness on a rugby pitch and epic deeds. A team man to his core, he played for Bridgend as he did for Wales, with total commitment in everything he did.
"He was a Welsh full-back without peer," contends Fields of Praise, The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union. "Indomitable before thundering forwards whose strength he could match with his own (6ft 1in and 15st 5lb), he made crowds, all over the world, suck in their breath to see him leap to pluck a high ball from the air when opponents advanced on him. His defence never flinched."
His bravery in returning to the field of play for Bridgend against New Zealand all those years ago only enhanced his standing in the eyes of many. A heartfelt apology from the All Blacks and the man who left him with such injuries back then was the least he deserved. Truly, a bottle of wine goes only so far.
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