Whoever it was who coined the phrase “never meet your heroes, lest they have feet of clay” obviously never met Sir Gareth Edwards.
The greatest of all Welsh sporting knights – there are unfortunately far too few of them for some unknown reason – continues to charm, amuse, captivate and amaze in equal measure even though today he reaches his 75th birthday. Poll after poll down the years have rated him as the greatest player the world of rugby has seen. His playing statistics certainly bear out such billing.
He first played for Wales at 19, captained the side at 20, went on the first of three British & Irish Lions tours at 20 and won the first of his five Triple Crowns at the age of 21. He won three Grand Slams, set records for the most caps (53) and the most tries (20) by a Welsh player and was one of the catalysts for the Lions winning back-to-back series on tour in New Zealand in 1971 and South Africa in 1974.
