The council were basically saying ‘We are not going to gift you this land and allow you to build this stadium and do all this development if we don’t think you have got a credible business plan’. Griffiths helped provide the set-piece platform with his scrummaging power on the loosehead, while also showing startling pace for such a big man, once sprinting in from halfway against Bristol for the HTV try of the month. Copsey? He actually stood 6ft 7in tall and weighed 17st 8lb in his Llanelli and Wales prime. He looked a formidable specimen on the pitch, then, but off it he was as amiable as they come.

I went out there as a winger, which is where I had been playing for Wales, and I started the tour pretty well. I scored a couple of tries and I was feeling quite confident. I don’t think Rory Underwood was in the best form then and I felt I could put a lot of pressure on him for a Test spot. He trusted me as his captain at Cardiff. We had been successful so he wanted somebody to deliver his message. I don't think he managed to get that message across, especially to the other club boys, they weren't that interested. But then we had a big injury crisis and I was thrown into the first Test in the centre with Brendan Mullin. We had never played together, no warm-up games, and I think we had two training sessions before we went out against Australia. As it turned out, we went to Ponty on the Tuesday night and beat them, which I think shows the character of the club and him at that time. We were able to take the adversity and then we won the cup the next year.You can’t regret going on a Lions tour at 23 and being part of a winning series, but you want to play in the Test matches. That’s what it’s all about. There is no point thinking I could have gone on the Lions tour and getting depressed and down about it. It didn’t happen, that’s that. They were a brilliant side and, for me, they should have won that World Cup because they were the best team in the tournament.

After a win over Japan and defeat to New Zealand, a one-point loss to Ireland meant they failed to get out of the pool stages.

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Hall had a position with the BBC as a rugby pundit on both the Welsh focused Scrum V, as well at international rugby events, but quit due to business commitments at the end of the 2004–5 season. [2] The competition also witnessed Jonah Lomu's emergence as a sporting superstar. For Wales, though, it was simply another failed campaign following yet another troubled build-up.

But, it’s funny, more people remember us losing to St Peters than beating Llanelli in the final in ‘94! From being hand-cuffed to Dai Young to a fateful bike ride in Lanzarote, Mike Griffiths has some tales to tell from his playing days. I have very fond memories of being involved with the world cup and everything that goes with it,” said Hall. “But, at the end of the day, it is about results and, ultimately, we failed in both (tournaments)because we didn’t get out of the group.

Age, Biography and Wiki

Mike Hall (born 13 October 1965, in Bridgend), is a former Welsh rugby union international, now property developer and part-time rugby pundit. Griffiths might well have gone on a second Lions tour - to New Zealand in 1993 - had it not been for an infamous incident which scuppered his chances. It was also the first global rugby tournament the Springboks were allowed to compete in, with South Africa only readmitted to the international game in 1992. His obvious ability in the position soon attracted the attention of a number of first-class clubs and, in 1982, he joined Bridgend, where he was to spend seven contented years. It is a proper rugby nation and they are passionate about it. Few rugby countries can match that, where they are the lifeblood of the country and they embraced it.

Before the tournament started I remember going to the welcome dinner and looking across and seeing this massive young guy who I just assumed was a second-row," said Lewis. I remember I had lots of people writing to me saying I should take him to court, but it never even crossed my mind. There were also some memorable moments off the field, including one involving fellow Wales prop Dai Young. I’ve had boots in the head, scars on my head, right the way down. You never complained, you just got on with it.”The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in South Africa following the end of apartheid. He thought completely differently about the game. He completely changed the culture of the club, from the bottom up.