Ray Gravell
Obituary: Former Llanelli and Lions rugby player who played during the most successful period in Welsh rugby's history.
There have been few Welsh men or women prouder of their heritage than Ray Gravell, the former Llanelli, Wales and Lions rugby player, who has died after a heart attack aged 56. Gregarious yet humble, he played during the most successful period in Welsh rugby's history when he became known for his trademark beard and his powerful charges from midfield, but his fame became even greater after he retired from playing in 1985 and embarked on an acting and broadcasting career which made him one of the best-known faces and voices in the country. No matter how badly the national rugby side was playing or whatever the latest calamity to beset the domestic game, Gravell was always armed with an infectious optimism.
He remained involved in rugby after the end of his 16-year playing career, becoming the president of Llanelli RFC and then Llanelli Scarlets, and he worked as a touchline reporter during live matches for the Welsh television station, S4C. He never harked back to the golden era he played in, arguing that there was nothing to be gained in comparing one generation of players with another. "All that matters is pulling the red jersey over your head," he once said. "Nothing beats playing for your country, for Wales. It is, and always has been, a privilege of the few, something to treasure for life. I have been very fortunate."
Despite winning 23 caps for Wales and playing in all four Tests on the Lions' 1980 tour to South Africa, Gravell never saw himself as one of the game's greats. A protégé of arguably the most inspired and innovative coach ever seen in Britain, Carwyn James, who was in charge at Llanelli when Gravell started his senior career in 1969, he said that James made him feel better than he was. "Carwyn knew, better than most, that psychology plays a big part in sport," he reflected two years ago. "I do not think I was that good a player, but Carwyn made me think I was a world-beater. I was 21 when Llanelli beat New Zealand in 1972, the youngest player in the side. I was terrified before the game, but listening to Delme Thomas (the captain) and Carwyn speaking before we went on to the field made me forget my nerves. Even all this time later, I can remember exactly what they said, the goose pimples their words provoked and how tall they made me feel."
Gravell helped redefine centre play with his ability to take the ball up the middle, drawing in defenders and using his strength to make yards and hold on to the ball to provide a target for his forwards. A pejorative term, crash-ball center, was coined as other sides sought to emulate Llanelli and Wales and critics pined for centers who passed, but Gravell was no stereotype. James made the Llanelli players pass from the scrum-half to the wing, left and right, every training session, and Wales's wings were not starved of the ball when Gravell was in the midfield. The subtle side to his game was disguised by the macho image cultivated by the media, as was a surprising sensitivity.
He made his Wales debut against France in Paris in 1975. The night before the match, his room-mate JJ Williams woke with a start at 3am to find Gravell pacing around, packed and ready to go home, saying he was so nervous that international rugby could not be for him. He went on to take part in two grand slam campaigns, 1976 and 1978, and would have toured New Zealand with the 1977 Lions but for a shoulder injury. He retired from international rugby in 1982, but played on for Llanelli for another three years.
After ending his playing days in 1985, he joined the BBC in Cardiff and took the leading role in a BBC Cymru film for S4C, Bonner. In 1991, he played an impoverished 19th-century farmer in a big-screen adaptation of Dylan Thomas' Rebecca's Daughters, starring Peter O'Toole, and the following year played Jeremy Iron's chauffeur in the Louis Malle film, Damage. Up until his death, he hosted radio programs in England and Welsh, and he was due to present the shirts to the Wales players before the November 24 international against South Africa in Cardiff.
In 2003, the street where he lived in Mynyddygarreg, a village west of Llanelli, was named after him: Heol Ray Gravell (Ray Gravell Road). He had been diagnosed with diabetes in 2000 and campaigned to help raise funds for research into the condition. Even when his leg was amputated last summer because of a condition brought on by diabetes, his renowned humor did not desert him and the man who as a player once said: "Get your first tackle in early, even if it is late," was cracking jokes about how he was never a kicking center anyway. He is survived by his second wife, Mari, and their daughters, Manon and Gwennan.
ˇ Raymond William Robert Gravell, rugby international, actor and broadcaster, born September 12 1951; died October 31 2007.
He remained involved in rugby after the end of his 16-year playing career, becoming the president of Llanelli RFC and then Llanelli Scarlets, and he worked as a touchline reporter during live matches for the Welsh television station, S4C. He never harked back to the golden era he played in, arguing that there was nothing to be gained in comparing one generation of players with another. "All that matters is pulling the red jersey over your head," he once said. "Nothing beats playing for your country, for Wales. It is, and always has been, a privilege of the few, something to treasure for life. I have been very fortunate."
Despite winning 23 caps for Wales and playing in all four Tests on the Lions' 1980 tour to South Africa, Gravell never saw himself as one of the game's greats. A protégé of arguably the most inspired and innovative coach ever seen in Britain, Carwyn James, who was in charge at Llanelli when Gravell started his senior career in 1969, he said that James made him feel better than he was. "Carwyn knew, better than most, that psychology plays a big part in sport," he reflected two years ago. "I do not think I was that good a player, but Carwyn made me think I was a world-beater. I was 21 when Llanelli beat New Zealand in 1972, the youngest player in the side. I was terrified before the game, but listening to Delme Thomas (the captain) and Carwyn speaking before we went on to the field made me forget my nerves. Even all this time later, I can remember exactly what they said, the goose pimples their words provoked and how tall they made me feel."
Gravell helped redefine centre play with his ability to take the ball up the middle, drawing in defenders and using his strength to make yards and hold on to the ball to provide a target for his forwards. A pejorative term, crash-ball center, was coined as other sides sought to emulate Llanelli and Wales and critics pined for centers who passed, but Gravell was no stereotype. James made the Llanelli players pass from the scrum-half to the wing, left and right, every training session, and Wales's wings were not starved of the ball when Gravell was in the midfield. The subtle side to his game was disguised by the macho image cultivated by the media, as was a surprising sensitivity.
He made his Wales debut against France in Paris in 1975. The night before the match, his room-mate JJ Williams woke with a start at 3am to find Gravell pacing around, packed and ready to go home, saying he was so nervous that international rugby could not be for him. He went on to take part in two grand slam campaigns, 1976 and 1978, and would have toured New Zealand with the 1977 Lions but for a shoulder injury. He retired from international rugby in 1982, but played on for Llanelli for another three years.
After ending his playing days in 1985, he joined the BBC in Cardiff and took the leading role in a BBC Cymru film for S4C, Bonner. In 1991, he played an impoverished 19th-century farmer in a big-screen adaptation of Dylan Thomas' Rebecca's Daughters, starring Peter O'Toole, and the following year played Jeremy Iron's chauffeur in the Louis Malle film, Damage. Up until his death, he hosted radio programs in England and Welsh, and he was due to present the shirts to the Wales players before the November 24 international against South Africa in Cardiff.
In 2003, the street where he lived in Mynyddygarreg, a village west of Llanelli, was named after him: Heol Ray Gravell (Ray Gravell Road). He had been diagnosed with diabetes in 2000 and campaigned to help raise funds for research into the condition. Even when his leg was amputated last summer because of a condition brought on by diabetes, his renowned humor did not desert him and the man who as a player once said: "Get your first tackle in early, even if it is late," was cracking jokes about how he was never a kicking center anyway. He is survived by his second wife, Mari, and their daughters, Manon and Gwennan.
ˇ Raymond William Robert Gravell, rugby international, actor and broadcaster, born September 12 1951; died October 31 2007.
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