A special presentation of over £6,000 was the culmination of some hard work and tremendous enthusiasm by Mostyn Davies and his wife Kay at the Ocean Café, Bar and Restaurant in Broad Haven, where their ‘Rugby Legends’ evening raised that magnificent sum for the Pembrokeshire Friends of Prostate Cymru. Small wonder then that the PFoPC hon secretary John Daniels and committee member Judith Griffiths were delighted when they went down to the Ocean bar to collect the cheque, accompanied by Bill Carne, who was the MC for the evening.
“This was the third such evening at our premises,” said Mostyn, who was at one time a flanker in the hugely successful Pontypool RFC which was so dominant in Welsh Rugby, “and although the first two were brilliant I have to say that this latest one exceeded all expectations because everyone in attendance seemed to agree that it was an exceptional night.”
Mostyn and Kay organised the three evenings on the eve of Lions’ matches abroad and his rugby contacts have provided outstanding support, with the only notable absentee being Graham Price, a former playing colleague and committed supporter of the event, who was unavoidably detained elsewhere – but there was still an amazing cast of speakers on the night, who not only regaled a full house with stories but also answered questions put to them by Bill Carne and supplied by the audience.
Getting the night off to a great start was Clive Rowland, who captained Wales on his debut and for his other 13 appearance, has been coach and president of the WRU and team manager of a successful Lions’ tour abroad. People were literally crying at some of his tales of yesteryear and he was joined on the panel by Eddie Butler, a previous Welsh captain, and former successful Welsh coach Mike Ruddock, now domiciled in Ireland but delighted to make the trip back home to help this worthwhile cause.
To give the evening an added local feel this trio was joined by local resident Peter Morgan, a former Wales and British Lions’ player, and Geraint Bowen, from Narberth, who played for Wales in Canada before injury brought an early halt to a highly promising career.
After a break for food following Clive Rowlands’ talk he also auctioned two lions’ shirts, one signed by skipper Sam Warburton and the other by Warburton and Phil Bennett, who has already promised to be at the next Legends’ evening in two years’ time.
The highlight of the evening, however, was a fitting climax where Eddie Butler invoked memories of Jim Telfer’s epic speech before a Lions’ test match as he recited it in full, complete with the few expletives uttered by the doughy Scot and spoken with a soft Scottish burr! This was followed by Mike Ruddock collecting his guitar from his car and in response to a speedy bucket collection had the audience singing ‘Sweet Caroline’, ‘American Pie’ and Delilah’!
John Daniels told us how delighted he was at the splendid amount raised and praised the hosts to the full as he told us: “Mostyn and Kay have been amazing and so have their staff and we can never thank them enough for what they have done – and we would also like to say thank you to everyone who turned out to support this sell-out success.”
It was a view shared by Judith Griffiths, the daughter of the late Ray Williams, who had founded the group after an illustrious career as a rugby coach and administrator: “My father would have loved the evening and been so proud of the immense amount of money raised by Mostyn and Kay – and long may they continue to support ‘The Pembrokeshire Friends of Prostate Cymru.”
Photograph and story supplied by Bill Carne.