Thoughts on Meeting Dai Duckham

One of the Greats - known as "Dai" when he played at the Arms Park because he, alone amongst his red rose colleagues, would have been difficult to leave out of that dominant Welsh side of the early 1970's. Who could forget the high stepping, jagging side stepper from Coventry ? Take a longer look at THAT game between the Barbarians and the All Blacks in 1973 - beyond that luminous start ("What a score!") - Duckham was one of a handful of players NOT to figure in the move that started with Bennett's waltz and ended in the signature Gareth Edwards plunge, but a look at the whole game shows that he did as much as anyone to run the All Blacks ragged that day. Talking to him, he bemoaned the modern accent on defence, and the gym culture that has left our game in the grip of the big boys.