Wales’s 1969 wing wizard Maurice Richards: ‘I scored the tries but forwards won it’

The scourge of England in Cardiff 50 years ago looks back on a thrilling victory in which he ran in four tries and explains why he switched codes at the end of that yearThey 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. Related: England kicking on but strategy for Wales could include power game | Nick Evans Running out on to the Arms Park was special. When I was a kid it seemed the only place where rugby existed. Related: Eddie Jones hand grenades will not faze us, says Wales’s Neil Jenkins Twitter: follow us at @guardian_sport Continue readingread full article

Source: TheGuardian

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