January 2024 edition
To many people the fact that it is the “new” South Africa which has brought a charge of alleged “genocide” against the State of Israel at the International Court of Justice may seem strange – but not when it is remembered that the current regime in South Africa only gained power by way of a systematic campaign of terrorism. For them now to act as the legal arm of the Hamas terrorists is therefore not in the least bit surprising. It is simply a case of “Terrorists of the world unite”!
The charges which the “new” South Africa government has brought against Israel are obscene in the extreme. It was the Hamas terrorists who vilely escalated their war of attempted genocide against the Israeli people on 7th October 2023, and the Israeli authorities subsequently only did what any other self-respecting nation would have done in the same circumstances, namely to conduct military operations to track down those responsible for these evil crimes and to eliminate then. But what makes the current disgusting actions of the South African authorities even more sickening is the fact that their own regime are turning a blind eye to the current quasi-genocide campaign against White farmers and inner-city dwellers within their own country!
There has however been another perhaps significant aspect to this preposterous case. One of the first lawyers to make a submission on behalf of South Africa had the obviously Gaelic name of Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh. When investigations were made into this lady it was discovered that although she was born in London both her parents hailed from the Republic of Ireland. Now Irish Gaelic is a beautiful ancient language which is a noble heritage for everyone in the British Isles, but alas over the past couple of centuries it has regrettably become the preserve of the Irish republican movement – of which the terrorist IRA has of course been the most hideous component. Furthermore a check of the earlier high-profile legal cases which Ms. Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh has been involved with has shown a clear connection to extreme left-wing causes – of a type which Sinn Fein (the IRA’s political wing) avidly supports. In S.A.Patriot No.23 we carried a picture sent to us by a supporter from Northern Ireland showing a painting on a gable-wall-end in the republican-populated Falls Road area of Belfast featuring women fighters from the PLO (the main Palestinian terrorist organisation then waging war against Israel), Sinn Fein/IRA and the SWAPO terrorist organisation standing in unity. It seems therefore that 40 years on this alliance between Palestinian, Republican Irish and Southern African terrorist sympathisers still remains!
There have however been two sets of people who have now been exposed as complete idiots by this latest confirmation of the close links between Palestinian and South African terrorists. Firstly there are those South African Jews who, probably as a “knee-jerk reaction” to the excesses of European nationalism during the 1930s, openly sided with the ANC during the days of civilised rule. Of course not all South African Jews took this reprehensible stance, but alas many Jewish South Africans incredibly sympathised with the terrorists, even though it was clearly obvious even then that the ANC was a rabidly anti-Semitic body which posed a severe threat to the well-being of their own people.
Secondly there are those ideologues from the “off the edge” Right who seem to be living in a time-warp from before 1948 when the State of Israel was established. These paranoids who cling onto way-out conspiracy theories about “the Jews” being in control of the whole world must of course be dismissed out of hand, and those of them who claim to support their kith-and-kin in South Africa whilst at the same time as expressing sympathy with the Hamas terrorists who stand alongside the ANC must be exposed and condemned as the hypocrites which they are.
If instead of backing those leftist political parties such as the PFP which were sympathetic towards the ANC the majority of South African Jews had given their support to pro-separate development parties such a the Conservative Party of South Africa (CPSA) – and as we reported and praised in S.A.Patriot No.21 the leadership of the CPSA had established good and friendly contacts with the South African Jewish Board of Deputies in order to show that parties of the mainstream Right were not paranoid anti-Semites - then it is possible that civilised rule could have continued in South Africa. Had the true South Africa survived in this way then the country would today be ideologically-aligned with Israel rather than being the legal-arm of the Hamas terrorists!
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SPRINGBOK CLUB NEWS
The Springbok Club staged a most pleasant get-together.at Westcliffe-on-Sea in Essex in order to commemorate the Day of the Vow last month. This proved a highly enjoyable event, and it was particularly pleasing to be able to meet up with a long-standing supporter, originally from Durban but now from the Westcliffe area, who because of her disability has not been able to attend any Springbok Club activities before now, but who hopefully will be able to join the organisation for further events in future.
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The Springbok Club will be joining with the Patriotic Forum in order to participate in their annual Burns Night/Australia Day event on Thursday 25th January. Precise details about this appear in the Patriotic Forum News section of this SCN.
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The Springbok Club’s 2024 AGM will be held during the afternoon/early evening of Sunday 2nd March 2024 in central London, and full details will be circulated to all fully paid-up members in due course.
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In April the Springbok Club will be staging a trip to a Rugby match featuring a side with strong South African connections, and in May the organisation will be making a visit to Portsmouth in order to see HMS Victory and the Mary Rose. In June the organisation will be welcoming a most interesting South African guest speaker, and in July will be holding its annual Rhodes and Founders Day celebration, which this year will comprise of the first in a series of events to commemorate the life of Frederick Courtney Selous.
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PATRIOTIC FORUM NEWS
The Patriotic Forum will be continuing with the marvellous tradition initiated by the late, great Dennis Delderfield of celebrating Australia Day in London again this year. Assemble at the bust of Admiral Arthur Phillip in Watling Street behind St.Pauls Cathedral on Thursday 25th January between 15.45 hrs and 14.00 hrs (Admiral Arthur Phillip founded the settlement at Sydney and became the first Governor of New South Wales - and it will be Australia Day in Australia itself at that time!) where a short ceremony will be held and the original version of the Australian National Anthem will be sung. After this the Patriotic Forum party will move on to the near-by Sir John Hawkshaw Wetherspoons pub in Cannon Street Station where Gavin Sandeman will give an informal talk about the Australian connections of the Sandeman family, before Burns Night will be celebrated with a sumptuous haggis meal. For more information ‘phone: 07711188430.
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SAD NEWS FROM THE NETWORK FOR ANIMALS
Most readers will undoubtedly recall that we regularly carried reports from the Network for Animals organisation in the SCN, particularly when they related to animal welfare in Southern Africa. We have now however received the sad new that the founder of Network for Animals, Mr.Brian Davies, recently died. Even though this news contained the revelation that Mr.Davies had made a controversial donation of £1 million to the Labour Party prior to the 1997 General Election in order to ensure that their promise to introduce legislation to ban the cruel practice of fox hunting in the UK would be carried out, we believe that Mr.Davies’s outstanding contribution to animal welfare around the world should be praised and never forgotten. Our sincere sympathies are therefore extended to Mr.Davies’s family and everyone associated with Network for Animals. The report which we received reads as follows:-
“Today we are saddened to share the news that our founder, world-renowned animal activist Brian Davies, has died at the age of 87 following a long illness. Brian died peacefully in his sleep on December 27, having built both Network for Animals (NFA) and Animal Survival International (ASI) into major organizations with 70 projects worldwide.
”Brian was an iconic figure in animal welfare, pioneering innovative campaigns to help animals and bring them succor around the world. Thanks to Brian, through Network for Animals, dogs, cats, donkeys and many other creatures in 26 countries have food, care and a compassionate voice fighting to improve their lives. Through NFA’s sister organization Animal Survival International (ASI), wild animals from pangolins to elephants have better lives.
“As an activist, Davies was formidable, fearless, wily, canny and utterly determined. During his legendary campaign against Canadian sealing, he was jailed for defying a government ban on flying to the Canadian ice to witness the cull, survived an apparent assassination attempt, and had so many death threats he left Canada and moved to the US. Eventually, Brian won when the European Union banned the import of baby seal pelts in 1987.
“Brian also played a pivotal role in the banning of fox hunting in England and Wales when in 1996 he controversially donated £1 million to the British Labour Party, believing that if Tony Blair won the 1997 general election, he would ban hunting with hounds. Blair indeed won, and anti-hunting legislation was passed. At the time, it was the largest single political donation in Britain’s history.
”Brian never forgot his debt to NFA and ASI supporters, interacting personally with as many as he could until his increasing frailty made doing so impossible. Brian struggled with ill-health in his later years, but he never lost his zest for life, his love for animals, or his sense of humor.
“Brian’s wife, Gloria, will continue his work along with a dedicated team who will honor his legacy by continuing the crusade for animals in crisis around the world. Right now, we are helping animals in Bosnia, Croatia, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Nigeria, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, the UK, the US, Ukraine, Uruguay and Zimbabwe.
”Brian would be proud, but urge us on to do much, much more. We will try Brian, we promise.
“For the animals, “David Barritt - Executive Director, Network for Animals”
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PETER DIMMOCK MEMORIAL AWARDS 2023
The winners of the 2023 Peter Dimmock Memorial Awards were as follows :-
British Sports Personality of the Year : Josh Kerr (Athletics)
British Team of the Year : Scottish Men’s Curling Team
Overseas Sports Personality of the Year : Luca Brecel (Belgium, Snooker)
[ It was interesting to note that even though Josh Kerr was the run-away winner of our own Peter Dimmock Memorial British Sports Personality of the Year Award, he didn’t even feature in the official BBC Sports Personality of the Year short-list of nominations! This led to widespread criticisms, not least in the sports pages of the Daily Telegraph. The Daily Telegraph in fact even went further by listing a series of complaints about the current deplorable state of BBC sports coverage. These complaints centred mainly on the increasingly “woke” nature of BBC sports productions, and in particular on the increasingly outspoken extreme Leftist comments made by Gary Lineker. We wish the Daily Telegraph well in this campaign of theirs, and hope that as a result it won’t be long before there is a complete change in management at the BBC’s sports department, so that the British people can obtain decent coverage from their national broadcaster which truly reflects their own views and interests.]
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DENMARK’S NEW MONARCH
It was of course a great surprise when Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announced on New Year’s Eve that she was abdicating the Danish Throne and handing over to her son Frederik, who thus becomes King Frederik X of Denmark. Queen Margrethe II was a good and internationally admired monarch, even though her reign alas aligned with Denmark’s entrapment within the European Union and a general decline in Western Civilisation. It was to be regretted of course that she twice lapsed into making controversial political statements, once to say that Danes should be more welcoming to immigrants and once to castigate her subjects for not abiding by the draconian Covid-1984 regulations then in force (by all accounts the Danish people were one of the most skeptical and defiant people in Europe when it came to all the ridiculous Covid-1984 restrictions, taking their lead from their fellow-Scandinavians the Swedes whose sensible government imposed extremely limited regulations!), but on the whole she rarely delved into political matters, and acted as a wonderful inspiration to all her people. We wish her well in her retirement, and also wish King Frederik X every success now that he has succeeded to the highest role. His omens actually look good, as with his Australian-born wife he seems to be a good friend of the British Commonwealth, so let us hope therefore that his reign will see Dexit come about!
GUD BEVARE KONGEN!
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A SINISTER RE-EMERGENCE
Long-standing readers will probably remember the disaster which befell the Swinton Circle (one of the component organisations which merged to form today’s Patriotic Forum) on Friday 31st July 2015, when a meeting to be held by the organisation was gate-crashed and wrecked by a group of completely uninvited political extremists. The planned guest speaker at this event was a Mr.Paul Weston who then ran an organisation called LibertyGB, who had been recommended by a then fast-tracked Committee member of the Swinton Circle named Paul Griffin. It soon however became apparent that Mr.Griffin was in-league with the gate-crashing disrupters, with apparently the aim of destroying the Swinton Circle and then taking-over the organisation’s position, but the part played by Mr.Weston in this whole sorry business was never ascertained.
The Swinton Circle survived of course by merging with New Britain and The 343 Group to form the Patriotic Forum, but shortly after the disaster we learnt that Mr.Weston had disbanded LibertyGB and had joined forces with another minor political organisation called For Britain. More recently, however, we learnt that For Britain had itself also been disbanded. This we thought would be the last that we ever heard about Mr.Weston, but alas we were wrong, as we have recently been sent a most disturbing video of a speech made by him from a supporter still based in South Africa.
In this speech Mr.Weston predicts (or is it hopes?) that Britons will be a minority in their own country by 2050. 2050!?! – that is only 26 years away! So what does Mr.Weston plan to do to ensure that his prediction (hope?) comes true? Does he plan to organise the mass killing of millions of British people? To most rational people this prediction of such a radical change in demographics is not only unbelievable but also deranged – but alas to many rather naïve people who actually believe the mischief-making exaggerations of the true numbers of non-Whites in our midst propagated by the BBC and other sections of the establishment, this prediction only engenders pessimism and fatalism. This outcome of course means that many of those who are genuinely concerned about the increasing number of non-White immigrants simply “give up the ghost” and cease all activism for the patriotic cause.
Perhaps Mr.Weston is just an idiot who bizarrely but honestly believes that Britons will become a minority within their own country within merely 26 years – or perhaps he has a far more sinister motivation here and is deliberately scheming to induce defeatism and hopelessness within our nation. Suddenly the disasters of 31st July 2015 seem to fit into place..
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SEARCH SERVICES FOR THOSE SEEKING LOST RELATIVES
Find any South African, even those who have emigrated. We also search Botswana, Namibia and ex-Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. Please use the search request form at :-
http://www.bellemodel.biz/emails/emails.php?id=emails_from_SCN
Also check the list of South African expatriates/emigrants web-sites, which can be found at :-
http://www.bellemodel.biz/uruguay/uruguay.php?id=uruguay_from_springbk
and
http://www.bellemodel.biz/emails/expatriates/toplist_expatriates.php?id=toplist_expatriates_from_springbk
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BOOK OFFERS
“LIEUTENANT COLONEL ALFRED JAMES TOMLINSON: MEMOIRS OF AN AFRICAN PIONEER AND BSAP OFFICER" is now available at Amazon.com, and can be shipped to anywhere in the world. This book contains excerpts from Lieut. Tomlinson's writings detailing his experiences as a member of the BSAP in Southern Rhodesia, where he rose from the rank of an ordinary trooper to retire as the commanding officer. It also includes the personal story of Majaqaba Ncube, a man who was enslaved by Lobengula when his entire village was massacred by the chief's soldiers. After he escaped, Lieut. Tomlinson saved him from certain death and gave him a job. They lost contact and were reunited after 45 years, when Majaqaba presented Lieut. Tomlinson with an earthenware jar.
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CREST PUBLISHING BOOKS
The latest book published by Crest Publishing is entitled: “BOWLS - QUIRKS, CHIRPS AND ANECDOTES". This is not an instruction manual but rather a cheerful, humourous and sometimes controversial chronicle about the game and its history worldwide. Written to celebrate 40 years in the sport by the author, Glenn MacAskill, it should be of interest to all bowlers and other sports enthusiasts.
For more information about all books published, or to make an order, please contact Crest Publishing at: P.O.Box, 4178, Honeydew, Johannesburg, 2040, South Africa, e-mail: glennallanmacaskill@gmail.com, or visit the Crest Publishing web-site at: www.crestpublishing.co.za. Special discounts are available to ex-servicemen, Rhodies and Springboks!
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"THE SAINTS" – a unique documentary in support of the book on the brief history of the RLI.
DVD available along with other premium titles of historical interest from Msasa Enterprises. Visit www.rhodesianvideos.co.za or write to msasasa@mweb.co.za for more information. UK contact telephone: 07415 753 340.
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW ?
No.302: Mr. PETER JENNETT of Durban.
Peter Jennett was a computer expert operating in Durban during the mid-1970s, when he was a friend of Lorraine Fitzgerald (see December 2013 SCN). A friendly and affable person, he evidently spent some time in London during the early 1970s where he expected to encounter a lot of anti-South African sentiments – but was delighted to find that in the main the exact opposite was the case! Alas contact with him was lost during the early 1980s, but it would be nice to discover what became of him.
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RECOMMENDED WEB-SITE OF THE MONTH
We have often featured reports from the Four Paws animal welfare organisation, but they have recently informed us about a most uplifting YouTube video which they have produced about Mark the Bear who they rescued from encagement in Albania and have now managed to re-home at their special bear sanctuary in Arbesbach, Austria. This video can be accessed at :-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhyaGjAmS2g
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
STRAW BASKET
Sir,
Thank you for sending me this recent circular :-
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/south-africa-may-soon-take-land-without-compensation
This thieving action comes as no surprise as these savages exert power. They will affect banking and food production and put White farmers into penury. Not a word from Jack Straw and his anti apartheid mates.
South Africa is a basket case,
Yours etc.,
Ann Lloyd, Norfolk, U.K.
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TAXING PROBLEMS
Sir,
In a recent e-mail I mentioned that 70% of the UK's FTSE 100 companies are foreign owned. Successive Westminster governments have travelled the world pleading for "Inward Investment". Probably started with Thatcher and "We are open for business", but her many successors sold off most, if not all, strategic industries. Highlighted very recently by the scandal of Thames Water and its daily sewage leaks into local rivers (340 / day and many fines over the years). This strategic company is Australian owned. Its finance company is based in the Cayman Islands. It pays high rates of interest to the Caymans against its loans, high dividends into Oz and high salaries and bonuses to its management, Oh yes, and it has those fines to pay. It does not therefore make a profit and pays no corporation tax. Anglia Water is owned by Abu Dhabi's government and pension funds here in Canada and in Australia it must pay reliable and regular interest payments and dividends. Another water company heavily fined for leaking raw sewage into local rivers. Northumbrian Water owned by Hong Kong based entrepreneur Li Ka-Shing. Last year he took £100 million in dividends and is paid an interest rate of 11% on the funding he has provided to the company. He also has significant involvement in the UK government's social housing programme, guaranteed returns, no risk and probably no tax. Very clever people know exactly how to navigate and "abuse" the UK's corporate and personal taxation systems, all of these people are non-doms and operate behind brass plate companies and trusts. My old mate in Bombay/Mumbai Mr Ratan Tata, the emeritus Chair of Tata Industries purchased, and resold, British Steel. I think that he still owns Jaguar/Rover Cars and Tetley Tea. Tata Industries made over £6 Billion in profits in 2022 (telecom, steel, cars and chemicals) and is reported to have been offered/received a £500 Million payment to build an electric car battery plant in Somerset. Shades here of Trudeau/the Ontario government and payments plus guarantees to VW for a battery plant in Ontario.
Selling off a nation's strategic industries and services makes that nation highly vulnerable. It does/did provide a short term boost to the exchequer to pay down the nation's massive debts and keep certain services ticking over, albeit in an ongoing state of crisis but it also creates opportunities for foreign "entrepreneurs” to exploit. Buy, cut costs, no or minimal investment in new infrastructure, creative accounting, if possible zero/minimal corporation tax and sell on or be bailed out by the government/taxpayer. The UK is a massive importer of almost everything including around 40% of its food needs. Global political problems, supply problems and inflated prices? The taxpayer picks up the tab. Canada may not be as exposed but is still highly dependent on the US for its exports and US organisations do have massive investments in Canada. Those UK water companies and current world events have highlighted how exposed and vulnerable certain economies have become in this interdependent global economy.
Yours etc.,
Paul Rhodes, Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada
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OBITUARIES
SYD MILLAR C.B.E.
It was with great sadness that we learnt of the recent death of John Sydney “Syd” Millar. Syd Millar was born at Ballymena in Northern Ireland, and was educated at Ballymena Academy where he excelled at Rugby, playing initially as outside-half before switching to the front-row, positions which were far more suitable for his build.
After leaving school his wanderlust persuaded him to joined the Merchant Navy, but Ballymena RFC, who he had started playing for even before leaving school, were keen not to lose their front-row talent, so – in the days when Rugby Union was still strictly amateur – they arranged for him to have a series of jobs in his home town. His Rugby prowess soon propelled him into the Ulster team, and then into the Irish national side, with him making his debut against France in Paris in 1958. He was selected for the British Lions Tour to Australia and New Zealand in 1959, playing in the two winning Test sides again Australia, but being dropped after playing in the First Test against New Zealand. He was back in the British Lions squad which toured South Africa in 1962 however – the start of his long and affectionate association with South Africa – and this time played in all four Tests, although never being on a winning side. He toured South Africa again in 1968, this time playing in two Tests, though again being defeated both times. In all he played 37 times for Ireland and 39 games for the British Lions, including 9 internationals.
But it was as a coach and Rugby administrator that Syd Millar really made his mark. He served as Ireland’s Head Coach from 1973 to 1975, during which time Ireland won the 5 Nations championship in 1974. In that same year he gained his highest achievement which was to give him lasting fame, for he was chosen as coach on the famous 1974 British Lions tour of South Africa. That tour party, because of their unbeaten record, became known as “The Invincibles” – but it wasn’t their success on he Rugby pitch which made this tour so historically significant, but rather the fact that anti-South African left-wing fanatics did their utmost best to ensure that this tour never took place. As a result it was an act of extreme bravery by every player and official to agree to take part – an act of personal courage which was greatly respected by all decent people around the Western World at the time, the memory of which still endures to this day.
Following this successful and historic tour Syd Millar was chosen as a selector for the British Lions tour of New Zealand in 1977, before being appointed as manager of the 1980 tour to South Africa, a country which he held an increasing love for. Although not so successful as the 1974 tour on the field (the Lions lost the series 3-1) increasing threats by extreme anti-South African groups in the UK meant that it was still an act of great personal bravery to take part in this tour, and again all those who had the courage to participate should still be held in the highest esteem as a result. Syd Millar subsequently became manager of the Irish national team, which in 1987 reached the quarter-finals of the inaugural Rugby World Cup, before turning his skills to administering world Rugby. He became Vice-Chairman of the International Rugby Board in 2002, stepping up to become Chairman the following year, in which capacity he supervised both the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cups, before finally retiring from Rugby administration in 2007 – although he thereafter became President of Ballymena RFC and retained his connection to the club for the rest of his life.
Syd Millar was not only a great Rugby player and administrator – he was also a great human being. He worked hard and he played hard, and respected all the players under his control, thereby bringing out all their strengths and gaining their full loyalty. In November 2014 the Swinton Circle (the predecessor of today’s Patriotic Forum) was addressed by Ian Paisley, the MP for North Antrim, and he mentioned during the questions-and-answers session afterwards that one of his proudest boasts was to have Syd Millar as one of his constituents, and that he felt honoured to know him personally. Such was high respect in which the man was held in Ulster. He was awarded the MBE in 1988, upgraded to a CBE in 2005, and was granted the Freedom of the town of Ballymena in 2009. Our sincerest condolences are extended to his daughter and his two sons.
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J.P.R. WILLIAMS M.B.E.
It was with great shock and sorrow that we recently learnt of the death of John Peter Rhys Williams. “J.P.R. Superstar”, as he was almost universally known, was born at Bridgend in 1949, the son of two GPs (this present writer had the honour of sitting next to his mother at the Fourth Test between South Africa and the British Lions at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, in 1974!), and was educated at Bridgend Grammar School and then Millfield, where he showed precocious talents both academically and on the sports fields.
His first sporting success was at Lawn Tennis, where he won the National Junior Championship at Wimbledon in 1966 – beating David Lloyd in the final! After this success he turned his sporting skills entirely towards Rugby however. He played at full-back exclusively from his schoolboy days, and revolutionised the position, turning it from a purely defensive position, simply catching high balls and tackling opposing players before deposing of the ball, to an attacking position running with the ball as soon as it had been caught or gathered. His try for the Barbarians in their match against Leicester in 1969, when he gathered the ball in his own 25 before running the whole length of the pitch and then scoring, has been immortalised by all who witnessed it, and set the benchmark for all future full-back play.
He first played for Bridgend RFC, and it was whilst playing for them that he was first selected for Wales, being included in their squad to tour Argentina in 1968. The time and expense involved in commuting to Bridgend from London after he began his medical studies at St.Mary’s Hospital proved prohibitive however, and was persuaded by John Dawes to join London Welsh, for whom he played for the next eight years, until he returned to play for Bridgend. He won his first full international cap against Scotland in 1969, after which he was an ever-present part of the all-conquering Welsh side of the 1970s – considered by most to be the greatest home international side of all time.
J.P.R.’s greatest and most memorable appearances came whilst playing for the British Lions however. He was selected for the famous 1971 tour of New Zealand (the only series which the British Lions have ever won in New Zealand) playing in all four Tests and scoring an outrageous drop goal at Auckland in the final Test from almost on the half-way line in order to secure a draw, and thus victory in the series! He was also a natural selection for the historic 1974 British Lions Tour of South Africa (“The Invincibles”), again playing in all four Tests of this heroic tour, when all players had to endure threats and intimidation from extremist anti-South African elements who tried to stop the Tour, yet practically all of them bravely stood their ground in order to honour their commitments to their South African kith and kin.
J.P.R. continued playing for Wales after this Tour, captaining them in their 5 Nations Championship and Triple Crown winning campaign of 1979, until finally retiring in 1981. In all J.P.R. played 55 times for Wales and winning 8 international caps for the British Lions. In 1977 he was awarded a richly-deserved MBE.
But Rugby wasn’t J.P.R.’s only great achievement in life. He followed his parents into a career in medicine, qualifying as an orthopaedic surgeon at St.Mary’s Hospital Medical School in 1973, before becoming a senior house surgeon at first the University of Wales Hospital in Cardiff, and then at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend. He once wittily observed that he spent half of his life breaking bones on the Rugby field, and the other half putting them back together again as an orthopaedic surgeon. He finally retired from medicine in 2004, but continued his support and active involvement for Bridgend RFC right up until his dying day. Our sincerest sympathies are extended to J.P.R.’s wife Scilla and their four children.
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