Around the Touchline Feature:

 
 
Gareth Griffiths is very much a larger than life character at Haverfordwest Rugby Club, where his 6 feet 3 inches, 18-stone frame can be seen at home matches, as well as the majority of away fixtures - and has played a full part with The Blues for about 40 years, initially as a player and then more recently as a hard-working club official that included a long stint as chairman.
 
Chat to a rugby man known to all as ‘G.G.’ (because of his initials) and he would say that it is now very nice to just turn up and watch games as a supporter, then enjoy a few pints in the bar afterwards with friends and often take a walk down Memory Lane with former opponents after a long time of involvement, which meant arriving early to deal with anything that cropped up and having to be busy with things other than watching his club play.
 
One of five brothers who played with distinction for Haverfordwest (and a sixth, Alan also played as a schoolboy) with Mike playing at a high standard right up to Wales ‘B’ level, whilst Robert (known to all as ‘Bobbles’), Stephen and Nigel playing for The Blues alongside ‘G.G.’
 

A slow starter but soon learned a lot!

 
Rugby has always been his first sporting love since he played for the old Haverfordwest Secondary Modern School which had such a strong squad that he was never fully assured of being on the team sheet.

“I think I must have been a late developer,” says Gareth with a smile, “but I was already very tall then and just tried my best when I was selected - and my efforts paid off because when I moved into youth rugby with Dai Miller as coach, I played regularly after I was told I was a bit on the thin side and should put on some weight - something I have no trouble with now!
 
“In that team were players of the calibre of Peter Griffiths, Delwyn Banner (who won a Welsh cap), Martin James and Clive Lewis - and I played in the back row alongside Ceri Curtis and John ‘Landers’ Lewis.



 

A short spell in the seconds and then into the firsts with Fleming as his ‘minder’

 
“From there it took me a couple of seasons to make it into the first team but it was good to gain experience before I played in a first team that had top players like Paul ‘Freddie’ Clark, Herbie Scurlock, Mike Phillips and Keith Fleming, who took on the role of being my ‘guardian’ if the going got rough in the line outs and rucks, really looked after me well and is still one of the best players I have ever seen with Haverfordwest.”
 
‘G.G.’ played in the first team for over a decade, which included what he calls the ‘Golden Year’ of 1975 when, with Trevor James as coach, they won the league championship, the Pembrokeshire Knockout Cup and the Pembrokeshire Sevens, which is sadly no longer in existence.
 
“We had real class in Gelly James and Billy Martin at half back and boy did they put our hard-won possession to good use as my brothers Stephen and Nigel scored plenty of tries out wide.”




 

Played in Germany thanks to Sarah’s understanding

 
Outside of his playing for Haverfordwest, Gareth had a nice experience early on in his senior career when he received a phone call from Peter Morgan, later a British Lion and Wales player, saying that he and Gareth’s brother Mike were off the very next morning to play for the Public Schools’ Wanderers in Germany over the weekend against The British Army of the Rhine and The RAF.
 
“He explained that they were short of a flanker and asked me if I would like to play. I was due to attend a wedding on the Saturday with my fiancée Sarah (now my wife) but she could see how keen I was and so I turned up at Heathrow at 10am the next day to fly out.
 
“She was very understanding (Editor’s note - he has to say that now doesn’t he?”) and has been brilliant in support of my rugby ever since, even when looking after our boys Rhys and Lloyd (now 35 and 30) when I was off somewhere playing.
 
“We beat the Army in a cracking match played at an amazing pace and hammered a weak RAF team the next day - and I was warmly treated by all the other players, some of them internationals, and it was great to play at that level and see how classy the top players are.”




 

Proud he received his county honours

 
Gareth is rightly proud of the fact that he represented Pembrokeshire enough times to earn his coveted blazer badge, awarded after a minimum of 15 games against the likes of Llanelli, Neath, Swansea, Bridgend, Maesteg and South Wales Police.
 
“We all regarded it as an honour to play for Pembrokeshire and I played in one Counties’ Cup Semi-Final in North Wales in Wrexham but there were smaller squads in those days and I missed out on the final, where we beat Glamorganshire.
 
“I was also in the squad to play in our epic win over the touring Japanese team at Haverfordwest but I’m still proud of the winners’ medal we had for all the squad which won the Welsh Counties’ Cup - and the special tie for the victory over Japan.”



 

Back to the seconds and a kicking in the thirds!

 
When it was time to step down from first-team rugby ‘G.G.’ helped out a little with the seconds and once played in the Third Team Cup when a lot of old-timers from around the county came out of retirement and forgot how old they were.
 
“I agreed to play for one half and was called on at the interval - got trampled on in the first ruck and wondered what on earth I was doing there. But I must admit that once I had recovered from the shock I enjoyed playing against some old rivals and we all had a great time afterwards!”
 
Once he had finished playing Gareth coached the club’s youth team with Robert Harries, who still reminds him of the time The Blues lost 6-0 in another KO Cup Final against Narberth at Neyland and it was Robert who had dropped goals in the first and last minutes to snatch the silverware for The Otters.
 
And even now, when they meet up, Robert still maintains that if ‘G.G.’ had been quicker off the mark those drop goals wouldn’t have gone over!
 

Two year session as chairman evolved into almost a decade

 
Gareth eventually joined the committee and was elected to be chairman.

“I thought it was a two-year term but I ended up with nine years helping to run the club alongside the redoubtable Delyth Summons as Treasurer, Graham ‘Dolly’ Dalton as Secretary and some superb committee members too numerous to mention.
 
“When I stepped down Alun Wills stepped into the role and has been there ever since, doing a good job in his own determined way, with Richard Thomas  also rejoining the fray and making a real impact alongside Dr David Richards, whilst Charles Davies continues to be a real figurehead for the club as a long-serving and still-working president.”




 

And finally . . .

 
One of the highlights in his time as charismatic chairman came when he managed to revive the ‘Annual Pork Supper’ of old and as well as good wholesome home-made food and great fellowship The Blues had some great guest speakers.
 
“Thanks to Geoff Williams when he was head of BBC Wales Sport we managed to have real characters like Sam Warburton, Derek Quinnell, Graham Price, Gareth Jenkins, Derwyn Jones and a number of others, with Bill Carne as the regular MC.
 
“It was great before Covid when we managed to persuade a few old-timers who felt is should be an all-male affair to allow ladies in too - and it would be lovely if we could resurrect it now - although the high cost of guest speakers is an obvious hurdle.”
 
Chat to Gareth ‘G.G.’ Griffiths for just a short while and it is easy to see how much he loves his rugby and writers like Gordon Thomas and I can safely say that he is a genuine character. He has that precious gift of being able to laugh at himself and willingness to listen to the views of others whilst sticking firmly to his own - and a visit to Merlins Bridge to watch Haverfordwest sees us enjoying a chat about an amazing array of topics - and not all of them about rugby either!