Lions legends: Phil Bennett

Lions legends: Phil Bennett

When one considers the golden days of Welsh and Lions rugby in the 70s, the image of the hot-stepping Phil Bennett is one which easily springs to mind.

A man of diminutive stature- standing only 1.71m and weighing just 74kg – Bennett was nothing special to consider at face-value. However, put a ball in his hands and his feet on a rugby pitch and a beautiful metamorphosis would occur – he would become a man who dazzled defenders with his beautiful, evasive running trickery and engineered opportunities for his teammates where none had existed before.

Bennett was born in FelinfoelCarmarthenshire in 1948 and made his international debut for Wales in 1969 against France in Paris. He was actually the first ever Walsh substitute, and ran on for the injured Gerald Davis.

For the first three years of his international career Bennett was deployed in several positions in the backline before finally settling down at fly-half in 1972 after the retirement of the legendary Barry John. It was a move which would bear significant fruit for Wales and the Lions alike.


A natural play-maker, Bennett was selected for the legendary Lions tour of 1974 to South Africa, where the men in red, under the sterling leadership of Willie John McBride defeated the Springboks in a series for the first time. Bennett was in sublime form on the tour and his 50m run to dot down over the try line in Pretoria remains an iconic moment to this day.

1977 saw Bennett handed the captain’s duties for the Lions’ tour of New Zealand. The Lions could not emulate the famous series victory of 1971, but still managed to produce some quality rugby. Later that year, while captaining Wales against England, a piece of Bennett’s pre-game pep talk to his team was to take on legendary status:


“Look what these bastards have done to Wales. They've taken our coal, our water, our steel. They buy our homes and live in them for a fortnight every year. What have they given us? Absolutely nothing. We've been exploited, raped, controlled and punished by the English – and that's who you are playing this afternoon.”

Bennett retired from international rugby in 1978 with a total of 29 caps for Wales and 8 for the British & Irish Lions. His legacy as a magician with ball in hand lives on, however, and it was his daring which was the catalyst for one of the most famous tries in rugby history.

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