Yet Another Cycling Forum

Off Topic => The Pub => The Sporting Life => Topic started by: Wowbagger on 22 June, 2020, 08:04:10 pm

Title: Interview with Will Carling
Post by: Wowbagger on 22 June, 2020, 08:04:10 pm
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/jun/22/will-carling-i-didnt-open-the-curtains-for-a-year-i-was-so-battered

As a dyed-in-the-wool Wales supporter, I always despised Carling as the typical arrogant English public schoolboy. That article has made me reassess.
Title: Re: Interview with Will Carling
Post by: Peter on 24 June, 2020, 10:15:54 am
The plucky Welsh miners against the English toffs has always been a myth and it fooled me for years.  JPR Williams and Gareth Edwards both went to Millfield, as I'm sure, did others.
Title: Re: Interview with Will Carling
Post by: Wowbagger on 24 June, 2020, 12:04:01 pm
Edwards is the son of a miner. He won a scholarship to Millfield because he was outstandingly good, not because he was posh. He went to the Pontardawe Technical School first. Phil Bennett was a steelworker, and quite a lot of the forwards had mining backgrounds. Having said that, (maybe Jaded can confirm) I gained the impression when I was in Gloucestershire and chatting to some rugby types in a pub that their rugby-playing tradition seemed to have more in common with the working class Welsh clubs than the posh West London ones.

JPR also went to a local grammar school in Bridgend before Millfield. I haven't been able to find out when either transferred, but certainly Edwards' early influence was Bill Samuels, the PE teacher at Pontardawe. According to this piece (https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/life-jpr-70-courageous-welsh-15920882), JPR's parents were doctors, and he once turned up to training in his dad's Rolls Royce. In his recent life, there were two incidents which caused him to drop massively in my estimation. The first was his conviction for drink-driving in 2010, but far more serious was the fact that he stood as a Tory candidate in an election.
Title: Re: Interview with Will Carling
Post by: Peter on 24 June, 2020, 02:14:19 pm
Fair enough, Peter.  They were my heroes anyway, even before I knew I was really a Rowlands!