The scene is still evocative, with Warren Gatland and then Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Roger Lewis walking into The Bush Inn in St Hilary near Cowbridge and the whole place suddenly falling quiet.
“It was like a scene from one of those Westerns when the doors to the saloon open and everyone turns to stare as the gunslinger walks in,” Lewis later reflected. “There had been a chatter of noise. Suddenly it was silence, everyone whispering in corners.
“We walked up to the bar, ordered two pints of bitter, and went to sit down. The noise started up again and a well known local character called John sauntered across: ‘Hello Mr Gatland, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m one of Wales’ three million selectors’. Warren just burst into laughter.”
