Graham PRICE

Following the Welsh national side's dominance in the early 70s, there followed a fallow spell due in part to an inability to dominate opponents up front. The selectors solved this problem in 1975 by reuniting the whole Pontypool front row of Bobby Windsor, Charlie Faulkner and Graham Price (see photo above, Graham left of picture), otherwise known as the "Viet Gwent". Graham Price was the youngest of the group (his debut came at age 23), and arguably the best due to the fact that he combined attacking prowess with his world class ability at tight head in the scrum. Indeed, he was to show his offensive ability in his very first game, scoring a 70 yard try against France in Paris after the opposition had failed to clear the ball.

The try helped the away side to a 25-10 victory and marked the beginning of new golden era in Welsh rugby. Price would later recall; "In some ways I'm glad that the try I scored on my debut for Wales came at the end of our game at Parc des Princes. Had it come at the beginning I'd have been shattered for the rest of the match! To go some 70 yards after 79 minutes can be put down to will-power and the kind of fitness Ray Prosser demanded at Pontypool. However, the poker-faced reaction of our coach John Dawes was to ask why I hadn't gone round behind the posts!" Wales then defeated England 20-4, but missed out on a Triple Crown when they lost 12-10 at Murrayfield.

However, Wales first outright Championship was sealed when they hammered Ireland by 32-4 in Cardiff in the last game of the season. The match was memorable for the fact that Wales scored five tries, including another one for the Pontypool front row, this time courtesy of Charlie Faulkner. Faulkner's try meant that all three Pontypool players had scored for Wales, Bobby Windsor having got on the scoresheet on his debut against Australia back in 1973. To complete the set, Pontypool backrower Terry Cobner had scored against Scotland in 1974. (Jon Collins)

In 1976 Wales went one better than the year before and won the Grand Slam. Probably their hardest game was the one that clinched the Slam itself, a 19-13 victory over France in Cardiff, a match that saw Graham leave the field with an eye injury to be replaced by Cardiff policeman Mike Knill. This match was made famous for JPR Williams legendary "bodycheck" tackle that denied winger Jean-Francois Gourdon a near certain try. The following year Graham helped Wales to another Triple Crown, before heading for New Zealand with the British Lions.

Price played in all four tests alongside such great players as Phil Orr, Fran Cotton and Peter Wheeler, but the series was lost 3-1. Graham would play in a further eight tests for the Lions during the 1980s and even scored a try in the first test in South Africa in 1980. Price won another Grand Slam in 1978 before taking part in Wales' acrimonious tour of Australia later in the year. After losing the first test, Graham left the field early in the second with blood streaming out of his mouth and clutching a broken jaw. The culprit was a certain prop by the name of Steve Finnane (aka "The Gunfighter" to his teammates).

Finnane, for his part, did not deny that he had hit his opposite number Price and would later claim in his book "The Game They Play in Heaven", that the punch had been part self defence and part retaliation for offences committed against him in previous games by the Welsh. He also conceded that the incident had cost him his career. Indeed, Finnane never played for Australia again and would recall; "The impact sent my name around the world with a label attached that said - often in 72-point type 'thug' ". Price on the other hand would carry on playing for Wales until 1983, and eventually won 41 caps, a record for a Welsh prop. (Jon Collins)