Ray Hopkins
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Ray "Chico" Hopkins (born on July 8, 1946 in Maesteg, South Wales) is a Welsh international rugby player who was also a member of the British Lions.
Outside rugby he was a National Coal Board fitter at their workshop in Maesteg.
[edit] Club career
Hopkins played youth rugby union for the Maesteg RFC academy. Later, he played for the senior Maesteg team,[1] Wales, British and Irish Lions, and Llanelli RFC.
Hopkins played for the victorious Llanelli team that played and beat the New Zealand All Blacks at Stradey Park on 31 October 1972. The Scarlets side emerged 9-3 winners of what was a bruising, brutal encounter at a packed Stradey Park with 20,000 supporters. Others to play in the victory included ex Wales Coach Gareth Jenkins and Ray Gravell.
In 1972 Hopkins joined the Swinton RLFC rugby league team.
[edit] International career
Although he played only 20 minutes for the full international Wales team, Hopkins is regarded as a hero in Welsh rugby history[citation needed]. It was unfortunate for him that Gareth Edwards was in possession of the Wales, British, and Irish Lions scrum-half position at the time.
Hopkins moment of fame came during the England v. Wales game at Twickenham in 1970.[2] The Wales team were behind on points with twenty minutes to go. The captain, Gareth Edwards, was injured and had to retire from the game. Hopkins came onto the field as a replacement. He soon scored a try, and, after a conversion by JPR Williams, Wales won the game.
He toured with the 1971 Lions to New Zealand and played in ten games against provincial sides. He was an injury replacement for Gareth Edwards in the Dunedin Test match, which the Lions won, 9-3.
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[edit] Reference
- ^ The Rugby Clubs of Wales, David Parry-Jones (1989) pg81 ISBN 0091738504
- ^ Fields of Praise, The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union 1881-1981, David Smith, Gareth Williams (1980) pp467 ISBN 0708307663
