In 1971 the British and Irish Lions left the northern hemisphere for a long journey to the other side of the World which would make them not only household names but legends of the sport. They were travelling to New Zealand where no Lions side had ever won a test series. Wales, as Grand Slam champions, supplied more players than any other home nation including the captain, John Dawes but the man who was to make the difference, also a Welshman, was the mercurial coach Carwyn James. Together, players and coaches were to achieve what no Lions team has accomplished before or since….. a series victory in New Zealand.
In 2001 I was looking for a subject to help celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the opening of the Groggshop. The date coincided with the anniversary of that momentous tour, so it was down to me to pick a moment from that dramatic series which epitomised their magnificent achievement. My father had already started making figures of rugby players in 1970 but the Lions tour of ‘71 inspired him further. It was a massive influence on him as an artist.
After much soul searching and discussion with my Dad I decided to test the boundaries of our recent conversion, from plaster and clay to rubber and resin, to the full. I had been told that, unlike the limitations of two-piece plaster moulds, with resin anything was possible. I was about to put that statement to the test!
There were many highlights on that famous tour…. Barry John’s impeccable goal kicking, JPR’s series winning drop goal, John Bevan’s record equalling try tally, and his co winger Gerald Davies’s searing sidestep and pace. But for me one incident stood out. In the third test at Wellington, in front of a record crowd, Gareth Edwards produced a moment of super strength and brilliance which left its mark on this 12 year old boy. The series was in the balance at one test each…. the Lions simply could not afford to lose or any thoughts of winning the series would be gone.
During the game the Lions won a line out and Gareth Edwards pealed off the back and ran hard towards the posts. In front of him was the talismanic All Black outside half Bob Burgess. Gareth ran straight towards him and fended off his attempted tackle with a hand-off so ferocious that it lifted the New Zealander off his feet. Gareth then passed to his Wales and Cardiff fly half partner Barry John, who ran in under the posts unopposed.
This was my challenge. Could I make a double figure of this iconic incident and achieve the formerly impossible by leaving one of the players feet clearly off the ground. My father didn’t think it was a good idea but to prove him wrong I started a maquette to see if the piece would balance at all. Clay is a very unforgiving material and I couldn’t use any armatures as the finished piece had to be fired to 1,000 degrees. Luckily, I managed to utilise the three other feet as support allowing Gareth’s front foot to be air born giving it the dynamism I was looking for.
When Dad saw the clay sketch, he agreed it may work but he was shocked to hear I was starting again from scratch instead of finishing the rough piece. Months later the most complicated piece we had ever made was finished. Luckily, we limited it to only 30 pieces reflecting our joint anniversaries.
Original Master Figure – post mould.
We managed to salvage not only the maquette but the original “master” piece which usually gets destroyed in the mould making process. They have been on display in our museum ever since as a visual aid to show how complicated the process of making a Grogg can be and a reminder to me that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
But looking back…. I’m so glad I did!
PS. Apologies for the late post this month but our museum “Handoff” figure has been on loan to the Cardiff Rugby Museum for their British & Irish Lions exhibition. Many thanks to David Allen for looking after it so well.
Cardiff Rugby Museum – Photos courtesy of David Allen.
