The choice of rugby fans as the game’s greatest player, Gareth Edwards retired from rugby in October 1978, after playing fifty-three consecutive games for Wales – a record unlikely to be equalled. He scored a record twenty tries for his country. He also played for the British Lions on ten occasions against South Africa and New Zealand.
Married with two children, Gareth lives in South Wales and is a director of several companies. He plays golf off a single-figure handicap and is an accomplished fisherman: he has written a book on the sport and has completed two series for BBC TV. He has written many books about rugby and his autobiography was on the best-seller list for many weeks. A second autobiography, published in 1999, was also among the top ten best-sellers. He works extensively with the BBC and ITV.
Two polls – in Rugby World and Esquire magazine – chose Gareth as the foremost rugby player in history. And the great Cliff Morgan described Gareth as “the greatest player ever, in any position, in any country, in any era”.
He is in much demand as an after dinner speaker at events with – or without – a rugby theme.