WElCoME to
sPortinGWalEs
happy new year to all our readers and advertisers. it must be said that 2009
has to go some to beat the extravagant Welsh success in 2008, but there are
quite a few sportsmen and women out there who are prepared to give it a go.

it is a lions year, of course, and everyone will be trying to second guess ian mcgeechan’s lions team
throughout the six nations. we do our little bit to help out with a feature on lee byrne – admittedly
not the most challenging selection on present form.

wales go into the six nations as defending grand slam champions. the last time they did that it all
went horribly wrong with Mike Ruddock finishing as coach half way through – one of the few times in
the history of sport a coach has been released after a victory! we look at the lessons to be learned
from ruddock-gate.

someone who was centrally involved in that and most other welsh sporting stories of the last two
decades was bob humphrys, the sports correspondent on bbc wales today. to be self-indulgent for a
moment, bob is someone i worked with closely for many years.

i met him shortly after he had left the bbc, he was really enjoying his life and writing a book. from his
description that night, i could not wait to read a copy. his happiness made it even sadder when, a couple
of weeks after that meeting, he was to be told he had cancer - a moment that typically he would write
powerfully about. he died last august, but the book has come out to celebrate a remarkable life. bob
always had the reputation as a top notch writer of tV scripts, he has kept that skill in print to produce
an appropriate epitaph not a proper Journalist.

the name comes from a jibe by his brother John, chief inquisitioner on radio four’s today programme.
the book’s conclusion is that actually covering sport is a proper job, albeit quite a fun one.

there are a host of other characters covered in these pages, the usual wide variety of welsh sport.

Editor:
thanks, as ever, to our advertisers. their support has helped keep this magazine free for you to read
hamish stuart
in these difficult times. They are all people, like ourselves, who want to appeal to all areas of the Welsh
sporting public. we hope you agree their support has helped produce another worthy addition to the
art director:
paul phillips
welsh sporting scene.
Photography: hamish@sportingwales.com
steve pope
Contributors:
gary baker
staff and contributors
hash piperdy
roger hughes
Jane williams
Contributing
Photographers:
phil chappell, gareth price,
©sportingwales 2009
richard lane
all rights reserved.
no part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted or recorded in any form or by any means without prior written permission
Publisher:
from the publisher.
sportingwales
while the publishers believe that all information contained in this publication was correct at the time of printing, they can accept no
Editors Message
Managing director:
liability for any inaccuracies that may appear.
steve pope
accounts Manager:
SW
Contact: info@sportingwales.com
John pope
4
tel: 01633 410450
sportingwales
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