A major new S4C documentary looks at how rugby union has fared in Wales since the game turned professional 13 long, hard seasons ago.
Rygbi – Y Gêm Agored (Rugby – The Open Game) chronicles the triumphs, trials and tribulations faced by Wales' national game since the late Vernon Pugh announced in Paris on 27 August 1995 that the game had turned professional.
The programme looks at 13 helter-skelter seasons which has seen the Welsh Rugby Union employ seven national coaches, Wales lose to the Springboks by a record score of 96-13, the building of the iconic but expensive Millennium Stadium, the reduction of professional teams to four regions and the winning of two memorable Grand Slams.
Colourfully narrated by actor Dewi Rhys Williams, scripted by playwright Siôn Eirian and directed by playwright and director Ed Thomas, the programme takes us on a journey in which fact seems sometimes almost stranger than fiction.
The programme has secured a number of revealing, exclusive interviews with key figures in Welsh rugby during these tumultuous years, including former Wales coach Graham Henry, ex WRU Chief Executive David Moffett, former Wales players turned WRU administrators Terry Cobner and David Pickering, Cardiff Blues owner Peter Thomas, journalist Paul Rees and former players Gareth Davies and Gwyn Jones.
Rygbi – Y Gêm Agored looks at how Welsh rugby enjoyed a revival towards the end of the coaching era of another All Black Steve Hansen. This led to the first Welsh Grand Slam in 27 years under his successor, Welsh coach Mike Ruddock. It also shows how the disappointing tenure of people's choice, Gareth Jenkins, led to the arrival of another New Zealander Warren Gotland this year and an unexpected second Grand Slam in four seasons. Only in Wales…
© 2008 S4C
O Gymru / Made in Wales