The legends of ’72 were reunited at Parc y Scarlets at a special anniversary dinner to celebrate 50 years since Llanelli beat the touring All Blacks.
More than 250 guests were treated to wonderful tales of that memorable day that resulted in a never-to-be-forgotten 9-3 win and the pubs running dry in the town.
Captain Delme Thomas, try-scorer Roy Bergiers, Gareth Jenkins, Derek Quinnell, Tommy David, Roy ‘Shunto’ Thomas, Brian and Barry Llewellyn, Meiron Davies, Roger Davies, Selwyn Williams and Gwyn Ashby were all in attendance with a special tribute also made to the great players, Ray Gravell, Phil Bennett, JJ Williams and Hefin Jenkins, as well as legendary coach Carwyn James, who are sadly no longer with us.
The evening kicked off with a performance from the Torch Theatre’s production of the play ‘Carwyn’, brilliantly portrayed by Llanelli-born actor Simon Nehan.
Hosted by former captain Rupert Moon, among the guests were All Blacks great Sean Fitzpatrick, Scarlets head coach Dwayne Peel and members of the current squad, former Scarlets and Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips and ex-Wales coach Mike Ruddock.
Simon Halliday of the Sporting Wine Club, one of the Scarlets commercial partners, introduced the new ‘9-3’ and ‘1872’ wines which are now available to order.
Derek Quinnell also spoke about the newly-formed Phil Bennett Foundation, set up this year, which will raise charitable funds to help underprivileged, disadvantaged and disabled children to participate in sport.