There is something special about Paris in the winter, the moment you step off the train at Gare du Nord, the aroma of coffee engulfs your senses as you hit the dark misty grey gloom, lit up by the neon lights of the cafes and bars in rue dunkerque.

Paris does the cold dark miserable season like no other city, with its inimitable style and class.

But Paris is different this year, the pavement cafes are shuttered and deserted, the tartan army sipping their cafe cremes with an insouciance and panache, is just a distant memory.

Historically France and Scotland have a very special bond, in 1942 Charles DeGaulle described it as the oldest alliance in the world.

“In every combat for five centuries when the destiny of France was at stake, there were always men of Scotland to fight by the side of the men of France, and what Frenchmen feel is that no people has ever been more generous with its friendship”.

The auld alliance with France was first agreed in 1295 built on France’ need to curtail English expansion.

The canny Scots were given the pick of the best French wines as a result of this accord.

The Auld Alliance will be put on hold next Sunday when the battle of the blues takes place at Stade de France.

France having lit up our dark Covid infested year with flair and panache, showed they can also win ugly, victory in Dublin in the rain could be a watershed moment for this team, if you’ll pardon the pun.

Scotland are hoping they can go the whole hog and win in Paris, especially with the whole Stuart Hogg in such fine form, and of course the boy from down the road at La Defense, Racing 92’s Finn Russell.

Scotland’s championship chances are over if they lose, whilst a France win will see them heading to meet their Waterloo, this time the station not the battle, and a mouthwatering encounter with England at Twickenham.

Ecosse will be hoping that they can bounce back after a heartbreaking defeat to Wales, and do not succumb to a case of the Bleus, thereby sent homeward to think again.

International rugby on Valentine’s Day, is a feature that pops up every now and then due to the seasonal location of the Six Nations calendar.

This year the French, surely one of the most romantic rugby nations, both on and off the field, face Ireland in Dublin.

Now Valentine’s Day holds a special significance for Phillipe Sella and myself, we were both born on this romantic day of days. Sadly that is where all my similarities with the legendary French centre end.

Cards of course are an essential part of the Valentine occasion, and it provides me with a very tenuous link to those of the yellow variety.

The referees selected for the 2021 Guinness Six Nations tournament have differing degrees of generosity with the brandishing of the yellow peril, but top of the charts is Wayne Barnes, who has given Clintons a run for their money with regard to dishing out cards.

Valentine’s Day in the Barnes household could be an interesting one, as Wayne’s wife Polly awaits a romantic missive from her husband, hoping for an elegant card with a lovely verse, she may well end up with just plain yellow one for hinging at the coffee machine, or coming into the garden from the side, rather than through the gate.

The World’s top referee has issued more yellow cards in the Guinness Six Nations than any other official, this of course is mainly due to his longevity having refereed 22 championship matches over a period of 15 years.

He will however be in the Emerald Isle this Valentine’s Day, as an assistant referee at the Aviva, his 24th as an AR in the Six Nations, and the French connection will continue when he takes charge of France v Scotland in Paris on Feb 28.

Wayne’s yellow pages directory includes some of the greats of the game:

Only 4 Six Nations red cards have been issued by the class of 2021, two by the South African whistle blower Jaco Peyper, when he dismissed Rabah Slimani and Michele Rizzo in the 71st minute of the France v Italy match in Paris in 2014.

The third red was issued last Sunday, by none other than Wayne himself, in Cardiff, when Peter O’Mahoney was given his marching orders in the 14th minute of Wales victory over Ireland.

And then yesterday just as I had finished this article Matt Carley produced a red out of his pocket for Zander Fagerson of Scotland, in the second half of the match against Wales, which the men in red won by the narrowest of margins 25-24.

Allan Lewis of Ireland, former international referee, holds the record for the most yellow cards issued in a match, when he handed out 5 during the France v Italy match in 2002. He almost repeated the feat in 2002 when he issued 4 in Rome during Italy v England.

Yellow is the most luminous of all the colors of the spectrum. It’s the color that captures our attention more than any other color.

In the natural world, yellow is the color of sunflowers and daffodils, egg yolks and lemons, canaries and bees. In our contemporary human-made world, yellow is the color of Sponge Bob, the Tour de France winner’s jersey, happy faces, post its, and signs that alert us to danger or caution.

As for cards, yellow is quite appropriate, whilst it is the color of happiness, and optimism, enlightenment, creativity and sunshine, there is also the dark side of yellow, which portrays cowardice, betrayal, egoism, and madness.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

Many of us of a certain age find technology quite bewildering, coming from a time when Zoom was an ice lolly, and tik tok was the sound that a grandfather clock made on a Sunday afternoon when the whole family was cocooned in front of the telly for Rugby Special, these are dark times for a Luddite like myself.

The Six Nations is a huge challenge for everyone involved, but no one in any national squad will have to cope with the pressure I had to endure last Wednesday, when due to COVID-19 the annual tournament launch took place, on line, in a virtual capacity.

For someone who is just about fully competent in texting this was my Everest.

Earlier this season I spent around half an hour happily chatting away on a radio interview with the mute button on, so I do have some form with regard to technology ineptitude, and the prospect of incurring the wrath of Eddie Jones or Fabian Galthie in a chat room was appearing to be a realistic prospect, presuming of course I could even get passed the dizzy heights of logging on to the session correctly, which I have to admit was not a given.

As I logged on to the Six Nations site at 0900hrs things did not look good, Puccini blasted out of my iPad, not the best of starts.

One of the catchphrases of this dreadful pandemic is “The new normal”, in my case the new abnormal would be more apt. Pressing every button on my keyboard in a frantic manner I magically managed to locate the virtual area I was meant to be in.

Despite giving Alun Wyn Jones a birds eye view of my nostrils due to poor iPad camera technique the launch went fairly well.

However one piece of technology I am very comfortable with is the TV remote, in fact I would humbly regard myself as world class in this department, with the ability to flick between BBC One and Netflix in the blink of an eye.

The next few weeks give me the perfect opportunity to showcase those skills, happy viewing everyone.

The winters are dark and cold in this part of the world, the daylight is in short supply during the days following Christmas, it is a bleak time for everyone, everyone that is apart from rugby fans.

For us it is the rebirth of the sporting year, and the start of the weekly countdown to the first weekend in February when the 6 Nations tournament begins.

The tournament starts in the depths of winter, and takes us through to the weak sunshine and gentle warmth of early spring, when the tournament concludes in the middle of March.

But the 6 nations is about far more than just rugby, it’s about making and renewing friendships, it’s about the history, it’s about the fans, the wonderful memories of 6 nations weekends past, and those wonderful ones yet to come.

Memories of matches and weekends shared with family, loved ones, and friends, some of whom are sadly no longer with us, come flooding back, and their spirits are with us this at time of year, as we prepare to enjoy a winter sporting festival like no other.

The 6 nations weekend has a heartbeat, a soul, it is a living entity, that has been enjoyed and handed down from generation to generation.

Uncles, fathers, grandparents cousins, have all taken pride in guiding their offspring on their first 6 nations weekend, and those youngsters who have taken over the baton, keep the traditions alive, and when the time comes, they will take their young on a similar rite of passage, and that is why the 5 Nations, as it was, and the 6 nations as it is now, is so unique.

Each wonderful host city has its own unique atmosphere, sight, sounds and smells.

Sadly this year it will all be very much different, and yet despite the lack of crowds and the dreadful situation we all find ourselves in, there is no doubt that the tournament has an important role to play.

The wonderful distraction of sport can be a great comfort in these difficult times.

As the 2022 tournament approaches, many of us, in the middle of a cold dark winters night will lie awake, and as the wind and rain beat against the window, we will feel a cosy warmth, as we remember with fondness, the matches, the weekends, the laughter, the tears, but most of all we will remember the people we have shared the matches with, and those friends we have met, because it is they that make the six nations tournament so very special, and we will hope and pray that next year those precious reunions will taste all the sweeter.

André Abadie. France international prop, who played twice as his country won the Five Nations in 1968.

Roger Austry. Former international referee from France. Awarded the Coq d’Or in 2002 for his career achievements, Austry refereed the French Championship final between Bègles and Toulouse in 1969 and during the Five Nations three years later.

Paul Bayvel. Golden Lions and South Africa scrum-half. Bayvel made his Springbok debut in the second test against the British and Irish Lions in 1974 and went on to win 10 caps for his country.

Steve Blackmore. Prop who played 169 games for Cardiff RFC between 1982-1996. Blackmore appeared four times for Wales, and played in the bronze final win over Australia at Rugby World Cup 1987.

Logie Bruce-Lockhart. Fly-half who played five times for Scotland between 1948-1953, helping his country to a famous 8-5 win over France in 1950. Bruce-Lockhart played in two Varsity matches for Cambridge and was also a schoolmaster, journalist and writer.

Michel Celaya. Former France captain who won 50 caps and helped the team to its first outright Five Nations Championship title in 1959. A forward, Celaya spent his entire club career at Biarritz and later coached the club.

Peter Cronje. Golden Lions and Sharks centre who played seven tests for South Africa. His third and final try for his country, scored against the British and Irish Lions in 1974, was the first four-point try scored by a Springbok.

Éric de Cromières. Became ASM Clermont Auvergne president in 2013 and oversaw a period of success in which the club won the Top 14 and European Challenge Cup while reaching the final of the European Champions Cup twice.

Corra Dirksen. A winger who scored three tries in 10 test appearances for South Africa between 1963-1968. All of those scores came against France in 1967, with his second in the first test considered one of the best ever scored by a Springbok.

Christophe Dominici. Scored 25 tries in 67 tests for France between 1998-2007. Arguably his finest moment came in the RWC 1999 semi-final when he helped to inspire Les Bleus’ 43-31 defeat of tournament favourites New Zealand.

Garrett Fitzgerald. Former player and coach who served as Munster CEO for 20 years between 1999-2019. During that time Munster won three PRO14 titles and two European Champions Cups.

Greg Growden. Australian journalist who covered every men’s Rugby World Cup for the Sydney Morning Herald and ESPN. 

Andy Haden. Played 117 times for the All Blacks, including 41 tests. The outspoken second-row played his club rugby for Auckland, and enjoyed spells at Harlequins and Algida Rome in Europe.

George Hastings. Primarily a prop, the versatile forward also played in the second- and back-rows for Gloucester. Hastings won 13 caps between 1955-1958, all in the front-row, scoring one try and kicking a conversion and two penalties.

Raymond Hunter. Won 10 test caps for Ireland and toured South Africa with the British and Irish Lions in 1962. Also represented Ireland at cricket, taking 33 wickets and scoring 800 runs in 28 matches.

Iain Laughland. Known affectionately as ‘Logie’, Laughland won 31 test caps for Scotland between 1959-1967, captaining his country on two occasions. He was also a gifted, and innovative proponent of sevens and a skilled administrator.

Terry Lineen. Played 12 tests for the All Blacks before his career was cut short at the age of 24 by a shoulder injury suffered against South Africa in Bloemfontein in August 1960. Lineen wore the silver fern a total of 35 times between 1957-1960.

Victor Luaces. Deputy Secretary of the Unión Argentina de Rugby between 2014-2018 and Sudamérica Rugby Honorary Secretary. Luaces played a pivotal role in the foundation of the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby.

Jean-Pierre Lux. A member of France’s Five Nations Grand Slam-winning team in 1968, Lux won 47 caps for Les Bleus and scored 12 tries. He later held roles on the boards of both the Ligue Nationale de Rugby and the Fédération Française de Rugby, and served as president of European Rugby Cup between 1999-2014.

George Mackie. Former Scotland number eight, who won four caps for his country between 1975-1978. His debut came in a 10-3 victory against Australia at Murrayfield in December, 1975.

Dougie Morgan. The scrum-half played 21 tests for Scotland, and captained the team during the Five Nations in 1978. He also made two appearances for the British and Irish Lions during the 1977 tour of New Zealand. Morgan coached Scotland between 1993-1995, leading them to the quarter-finals of Rugby World Cup 1995.

Arthob Petersen. Former Springbok manager, who held the post on four separate occasions between 1997-2009. In 1992, he was elected as a member of the executive committee of the South African Rugby Football Union, the forerunner to SA Rugby.

Ray Prosser. A prop who played 22 times for Wales between 1956-1961, and appeared in the final British and Irish Lions test against New Zealand in 1959. A proud Pontypool player, Prosser went on to coach the club for almost 20 years, bringing success on the pitch and producing a long line of international forwards for Wales.

André Quilis. A flanker who played five times for France between 1967-1971. Quilis went on to coach Perpignan, Nîmes and Montpellier.

Mat Ratana. Head coach of East Grinstead RFC. Born in Hawke’s Bay, Ratana moved to London in 1989 and spent the next 30 years working for the Metropolitan Police either side of a five-year spell back in New Zealand between 2003-2005.

Mike Slemen. England’s most-capped winger (31) when he retired from test rugby in 1984. Slemen scored a try in the 30-18 defeat of Scotland that secured a Five Nations Grand Slam in 1980, and toured South Africa with the British and Irish Lions that summer. Went on to coach the England backs under Geoff Cooke.

Jock Steven. Scottish Rugby President between 1993-1994, Steven represented the Barbarians during his playing career and was also an unused travelling reserve for Scotland. In 1988, he was team manager for the unbeaten Scotland Development XV tour of Zimbabwe.

Arthur Summons. A fly-half who won 10 caps for Australia between 1958-1959. Summons switched to rugby league in 1960, and captained and coached his country.

Alan Sutherland. A tall, powerful number eight who played 54 matches for New Zealand between 1968-1976, 10 of which were tests. A member of the Marlborough team that won the Ranfurly Shield in 1973, he later moved to South Africa.

Eddie Tonks. New Zealand Rugby Chair between 1990-1995, Tonks was first elected to the board in 1986 and was made a life member in 2004. He was involved in the preparations for the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987 and also served as World Rugby Chairman.

Matthew J Watkins. Centre who played 18 tests for Wales, and also represented his country at sevens. He revealed in 2013 he had a rare form of pelvic cancer and fundraised for cancer charities following retirement.

Grant Weatherstone. Scotland winger who won 16 caps and scored three tries between 1952-1959. Weatherstone also represented the Barbarians and was selected for the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 1955, but withdrew through injury.

JJ Williams. Having represented Wales as a sprinter at the Commonwealth Games in 1970, Williams became an iconic figure on the wing for his nation’s rugby team. He won 30 caps for Wales between 1973-1979, scoring 12 tries, and added five more in seven tests for the British and Irish Lions.

Dennis Young. Hooker who played 22 tests for New Zealand between 1956-1964. A talented tap dancer in his youth, Young also represented Canterbury 139 times.

John Young. A talented athlete as well as a rugby player, Young played nine tests for England on the wing between 1958-1961, scoring two tries. In 1959 he was selected to tour New Zealand and Australia with the British and Irish Lions. Following retirement he became an England selector.

Hiroki Yuhara. The hooker was capped 22 times by Japan and was a member of the squads that travelled to RWC 2011 and RWC 2015, playing one match at the former. Following retirement he was working as forwards coach at Toshiba Brave Lupus.

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire was more likely to be an ailment rather than an old Christmas song, considering the way 2020 panned out.

Maybe your Ding Dong didn’t merrily on high this year, but hey Cliff Richard didn’t release a Christmas song, so every cloud and all that.

Rugby wise even covid couldn’t stop some Boxing Day rugby from taking place, and the only new strain that affected me, touch wood ,was the strain put on the trousers by my rapidly expanding waistline.

It looks like 2020 is going out as it came in , with disruptive wind, nothing to do with the brussel sprouts, but rather Storm Bella, which is hitting the west coast as I write.

In Wales Boxing Day rugby was always centred around local derbies, where there was no love lost, the NHS was put under enormous strain even in those far off days, as local rivalries took a pugilistic turn on the field, prior to alcohol poisoning setting in post match.

In the professional era the local derbies in South Wales are not quite so brutal, but they are still bruising hard fought encounters.

This year in Newport the Dragons fire was finally drowned out after 68 minutes in the Gwent rain, and Cardiff Blues sneaked a narrow win by a single point.

The weather conditions were no better 63 miles due West in Llanelli, where Scarlets beat Ospreys in another close result.

A time of Tiers and tears as no spectators were present due to Covid, so it was yet another afternoon on the sofa.

So as the third mince pie bites the dust and the Nespresso machine works it’s magic, it’s time to switch channels to BBC 2 for Wallace and Grommit: A Close Shave, not too dissimilar to the earlier Welsh derbies… at least it’s not the wrong trousers. Maybe Its time to reach for the Wensleydale ?.

It was a year when Amazon delivered our international rugby, and for once they didn’t just leave it behind the wheelie bin and put a card through the letter box. 

We should be eternally grateful that Yodel didn’t get the contract, otherwise England v Wales could have ended up in a neighbour’s porch, or half way up your silver birch.

Rugby limped through 2020 like an aged prop with a dodgy hamstring and a massive hangover, and whilst Wimbledon had been cancelled due to covid, the Autumn Nations Cup provided us with kicking rallies that Rafa and Roger would have been proud of.

Thank goodness for the dear old French, who not only found their mojo but stole everyone  else’s as well, Dupont and Ntamack proving to be one of the best partnerships since Prince Andrew and Pizza Express.

We got used to our televised rugby sounding like an episode of “Friends” as the canned crowd noise became the norm, fortunately Andrew Cotter remained the constant despite threats of a takeover from the new commentary kids on the block Olive and Mabel.

Everyone’s mental health suffered, and is still suffering this year, to a greater or lesser degree, but rugby still provided those magical moments, as it always does, when for a split second we were transported away from the anguish and tragedy that engulfs us.

As many of us enter Tier 4, or the national equivalent, being deprived of our loved ones over Christmas has created an emotional experience that is difficult to comprehend, there is nothing in the memory bank to turn to on this occasion to help us cope.

Today  I was fortunate enough to be at the Stoop where in these dark times, the stars shone brightly. Finn Russell, Kurtley Beale Teddy Thomas and co dropped in from Paris, the city of lights and lifted the gloom for a few precious moments, and crikey, even the sun broke through.

These are tough times but let’s hope in 2021 these brighter moments will be more frequent, that crowds will replace canned noise, and that life in general will upgrade us to Amazon Prime.

The Scots have over 400 words to describe the weather, from flaggie (snowflake) to Haar (a mist rolling in from the east). 

In a 24 hour period at the weekend, Edinburgh experienced a meteorological smorgasbord, as Friday’s thundersnow gave way to smirr (fine drizzle) 

But nothing could dampen Fiji’s joy following two weeks in quarantine, at a motel in St Etienne, after 27 of their players tested positive for Covid-19.

The squad were left isolated in individual rooms with meals left outside their doors. They were allowed outside to stroll in the motel car park one by one, so to finally play a game of rugby against Georgia at Murrayfield must have been a mighty release.

It had been 423 days since Fiji last played an international match, and a victory that included 6 tries, 3 of which came from Nemani Nandolo, was a testament to their character.

Coach Vern Cotter said that the lockdown experience in France had made the players grow and become better both individually and as a team.

Georgia played their own part in an entertaining match, with 3 tries of their own, and they will have benefited hugely from playing quality opposition in the Autumn Nations Cup.

As the mist cleared on top of Arthur’s Seat and a patch of blue appeared above Murrayfield, the Fijians thoughts may have turned to sunny Suva, but “Auld Reekie” and its dreich will do just fine for now.

Carmarthenshire is a very magical place. Tucked away in West Wales the county’s mystical qualities are enhanced by the fact that it is reputed to be the birthplace of Merlin, the magician of Arthurian legend.

If you have any doubts about these matters then I refer you to Merlin’s oak which stood on the approach to Carmarthen’s town centre amid the legend that King Arthur’s famous wizard had placed a protective curse on it. In local tradition, the wizard said Carmarthen would “drown” if the oak was ever removed, and some even said a curious, pointed notch in the tree was the face of Merlin himself.

In fact, the tree was poisoned in the 1850s by a local who objected to people holding meetings beneath it, but its trunk was preserved within iron railings. It was then removed from the town when someone set it on fire at the end of the 1970s. Carmarthen then suffered its worst floods for many years.

The county of Carmarthenshire is also the birthplace of the subject of this article, and indeed its writer. The rolling green hills have produced more magicians than the magical circle, the towns and villages producing a conveyor belt of rugby wonderment.

Cefneithen, Trimsaran, Bancyfelin, Kidwelly and Pontarddulais produced Barry John, Carwyn James, Jiffy, Delme Thomas, Mike Phillips, Jon Davies, Terry Price and Ieuan Evans, and that is just a  small proportion to illustrate that magic is indeed the byword in these parts.

 The tiny village of Mynddcerig had a recorded population of 303 in the 2011 census, this village has now been noted and mispronounced all over the world due to just one man, Nigel Owens.

Yesterday on a farm near Llanelli a herd of prize Hereford’s munched on their feed with a sense of bovine pride as their boss was creating history in Paris.

Nigel has never been one for taking any bull on the rugby field, but back home it’s a different story.

The first pedigree Hereford’s, the mairwen herd are named after Nigel’s Mam, Rhachel Mairwen Owens.

The lush green fields of Carmarthenshire are consistently visited by precipitation from the nearby Atlantic Ocean, one of the reasons why it is such a wonderful farming area.

Two weeks ago he had Georgia on his mind at a damp and gloomy Twickenham, but yesterday it was the city of lights that provided the setting for the Welshman’s 100th test match.

France faced Italy in a deserted Stade de France due to COVID-19, but it was another dreadful disease that occupied Nigel Owens sleepless nights in the lead up to this memorable occasion.

It was a case of TB or not TB as he and his herd awaited the results of statutory bovine TB tests. Thankfully the results all came back negative.

This could be the last international assignment for the much loved whistle blower but players and fans alike are hoping to see him in action during the 2021 Guinness Six Nations.

On a personal note I count myself privileged to call Nigel a friend. When he offered to write the foreward to my book on French Rugby, I was delighted beyond words.

Last night as a deserted post match Stade de France shimmered in the Parisian moonlight, a Carmarthenshire man’s thoughts turned to the rolling green hills of home, and Merlin doffs his cap to the wizard with the whistle, oh there is magic in these parts alright.

Phil Steele summed it up perfectly

’”Im sure I speak for many of my age when I say that we have lost part of our rugby childhood, One of the all time greats of Welsh Rugby. #RIPJJ.

Those of us who grew up with the Wales team of the 1970’s have a spiritual bond with the players that we worshiped, and J.J. Williams’ death feels personal to us in a way we cannot begin to describe.

My first attendance at a Welsh international was against England at Twickenham in 1974, the day when Max Boyce’s blind Irish referee disallowed JJ’s try.

I can confirm here and now that it should have been awarded. John West was 25 metres behind play and couldn’t see the touchdown, but I could.

From that day onwards J.J. Williams was always somewhere in my excuse for a brain, but more importantly he was in my soul.

I am not ashamed to admit that I shed a few tears last Thursday, when the sad news broke, the problem when you get to my age is that this sort of news gets more and more frequent, but as Phil Steele touched upon those childhood memories are so magical and so untarnished that you feel you lose something of yourself when folks of this kind leave us behind, it was just the same with “Merv” and “Grav”

I count myself so fortunate to have been a teenager when the “Welsh Whippet” made that red number 11 jersey his own. In fact I was even more blessed that he also played for “my” club, Llanelli. 

His playing feats have been written about in obituaries over recent days, but this small heartfelt tribute hopefully goes deeper than records and achievements.


Thank you John James Williams for lighting up a young boy’s passion for this wonderful game, you will never be forgotten, sleep peacefully.