They used to say the wind blew hardest at Cardiff Arms Park when it was trying to catch Maurice Richards. It had no more success than the England team that arrived in the Welsh capital 50 years ago chasing a share of the Five Nations title but left resembling the rubble where the north stand had been. Richards ran in four tries in a thrilling 30-9 victory that afternoon, equalling a Wales record that still stands. Wales scooped the triple crown and the championship.
That afternoon’s demolition of England was the start of a golden era for the men in red, but before the end of the year the 24-year-old Cardiff wing, a 1968 Lion who had still to reach his peak, had left Wales and his job at Port Talbot steelworks for rugby league, where he would become Salford’s record try scorer and appearance holder in a 14-year career.
When the names of the players of that vintage are read out, Richards’s is not prominent, yet he was one of the finest wings of any generation, a sinewy, deceptively strong runner with instant acceleration and a sidestep that left many a defender struggling to work out what had gone wrong; a player ahead of his time who, without question, would be as successful in the modern game, born to score tries.
Mervyn Davies, who won his first cap in 1969, picked Richards in his dream Welsh XV. “Maurice had everything,” wrote the former Wales captain in his autobiography. “Physique, determination, speed and a shattering side-step. I shall never forget the try he scored in the second Test against New Zealand in 1969 (a few days after a stunning hat-trick against Otago) having beaten Fergie McCormick with an inside feint and outside body swerve that left the full-back rolling on his back, he outpaced four covering defenders to reach the corner flag.”
England kicking on but strategy for Wales could include power game | Nick Evans
Richards’s club colleague and another household name in Wales Gerald Davies says: “I know he left union early, but Maurice has not been given the acknowledgment that one of the greatest wings I have ever seen deserves.”
Of his exploits that day in April 1969, Richards, who still lives in Manchester, wonders if anyone would be interested. “I have always believed in looking forward because looking back is a waste of time,” he says. “The game is different, professional for a start. When I left I never thought union would go that way because loose rucking meant it was too dangerous a game to earn a living in.
“My sixth game for Cardiff was against the All Blacks. I remember fielding a kick and getting a knee in the back from Waka Nathan as I fell to the ground. I was raked so hard the marks took seven weeks to disappear. Short-arm tackles were part of the game and players used any means they could to win. It is much better now and refereed well.
Running out on to the Arms Park was special. When I was a kid it seemed the only place where rugby existed.
“I remember the game against England with huge pride. It still gives you a warm feeling. In those days, Cardiff played on the Arms Park. I lived in the Rhondda and the club was on a pedestal there. I never dared to think about playing for them and it was a difficult decision to leave in 1969. Who knows what I would have gone on to achieve had I stayed but I count myself fortunate to have played six years for Cardiff and been capped by Wales and the Lions followed by 14 happy years at Salford. I have no regrets.”
When Wales faced England in 1969, their coaching revolution had just started but teams were not allowed to meet up more than 48 hours before a match and in effect had one training session to prepare. Wales stayed in the Angel hotel and names who were to become world renowned – Barry John, Gareth Edwards, Mervyn Davies, JPR Williams, John Dawes and Dai Morris – made the short walk down Westgate Street to get to the ground that Saturday.
“I always slept well before a game,” Richards recalls. “Walking to the ground was part of the experience and running out on to the Arms Park was special. When I was a kid it seemed the only place where rugby existed. When I was seven my grandfather [Edwin Rees, a professional footballer with Charlton Athletic and Bradford City in the 1920s] and my stepfather took me to see Cardiff play Newport. One of their forwards stooped to pick up the ball and Cliff Morgan darted between his legs to scoop it up. I was hooked.
Eddie Jones hand grenades will not faze us, says Wales’s Neil Jenkins
“It was all coming together for Wales in 1969. Clive Rowlands was the coach, an inspirational figure who knew what it took to win, we had a terrific set of forwards, half‑backs of a kind you will never find again and flair behind. Added to that was footballing ability, players who knew how to use the ball strategically. Put it all together and things happen, as it did that day against England. I scored the tries but it was the forwards who won the game. They destroyed England’s pack.”
The sides went in 3-3 at half-time. Bob Hiller had given England the lead with a penalty before Richards scored his first try after his opposite number, Ken Plummer, was caught in possession five metres from his line and Barry John forced a turnover. Wales had been playing into the wind and with it breezed to victory. John scored their second try, helping himself to a Keith Jarrett pass intended for Richards and weaving away from four tacklers, before Richards rounded Plummer to finish a passing move then outmuscled him after JPR Williams was held on the line. Richards’s fourth was his best, coming into midfield 35 metres out after a lineout, powering through a tackle and stepping away from another before outpacing two defenders. It was the hapless Plummer’s first cap, a replacement for the injured Keith Fielding, who was to join Richards at Salford. Plummer had to wait seven years for his second.
“Ken Plummer was not to blame for what happened,” says Richards. “I was introduced to him at a Varsity match some years later; I don’t think he was pleased to see me. I am not sure I touched the ball more than four times: it is about being in the right place. Look at some of the tries Wales and England have scored this year from kicks. Some tries are down to flair, others to hard work, perseverance and reading the game.”
Such as Richards’s in the draw in France that had thwarted Wales’s grand slam hopes, chasing Gareth Edwards’s chip over a scrum into space after the right wing had rushed up. “I suppose I could have had five [against England] had Barry not intervened,” says Richards. “He had a habit of ghosting through tacklers. He did not seem to do anything but the end product was tremendous; what a player.”
He had to settle for four, equalling the record for a Wales player against England set in 1899 by another left-wing, Willie Llewellyn, who came from Tonypandy, where Richards went to school. “I was not aware of the record,” says Richards. “It was low-key in those days. We had a dinner after the match and I drove home after it. The next day was a normal Sunday, apart from a photographer wanting to take a picture of me and my wife, Lesley, and the following day I was at work in the steelworks in Port Talbot. The game is at a different level now because people have to sell it.”
It was Richards’s sixth cap and he was to win only three more, two against New Zealand and one against Australia, finishing his international career as he had started it in 1964, in an uncapped match against Fiji. “I was very unhappy with the refereeing on that tour,” he says. “It so depressed me that I asked myself if I wanted to experience it again. The answer was no.”
Richards left Cardiff after scoring 97 tries in 171 matches, garnished by 12 in 13 matches in a Wales jersey and five for the Lions. He played 498 times for Salford and scored 297 tries, was capped by Wales and Great Britain. He once scored four tries against Gloucester, but it is for his feats half a century ago that he will be remembered.
“Wales had bigger wings than centres then, with Stuart Watkins on the right,” says John Spencer, one of England’s centres in 1969. “I remember Maurice running straight at me. I tackled him hard but was nearly knocked out as he stepped at the last moment. I lay on the ground pretending I was not hurt. He was incredible with the ball in hand. Ken did not pretend to be the greatest defensive player but no one would have stopped Maurice that day.” Nor the wind.