Sir Gareth Owen Edwards, CBE (born July 12, 1947) is a former Welsh rugby union player who plays scrum-half and has been described by the BBC as "arguably the greatest player ever to wear a Welsh jersey."
In 2003, in an international rugby player poll conducted by Rugby World magazine Edwards was named the greatest player of all time. In 2007, former England captain Will Carling published a list of '50 Biggest Rugby players' on The Daily Telegraph, and rated Edwards the biggest player ever; "He is the highest athlete with the highest skill, the complete package.He played in the 1970s, but, if he plays now, he will still be the best.He is amazing in running, passing, kicking and reading the game.He sits astride the entire rugby as the main athlete in the field ".
Edwards stands out in the Welsh national team that surfaced in European rugby in the 60s and 70s. He is one of a small group of Welsh players who have won three Grand Slams including Ryan Jones, Adam Jones, Gethin Jenkins, Gerald Davies and J. P. R. Williams.
In the New Year's Honors 2007, Edwards became a CBE for services for sports. She earned her honors on Queen's Birthday 2015, for sports services and charity services.
Video Gareth Edwards
Kehidupan awal
Edwards was born as a miner's son in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Wales. He studied at Pontardawe Technical School (now Cwmtawe Community School) for Boys, where he was taken under the wing of sports teacher Bill Samuels.
He won a scholarship to the elite Millfield School in Somerset. In addition to rugby, Edwards showed promise in various sports, played for West Wales Youth football team, and joined Swansea Town at the age of 16. He also showed proficiency in gymnastics and athletics.
Maps Gareth Edwards
Play career
Wales
Edwards won his first international cap for Wales on 1 April 1967 at the age of 19 against France in Paris. Wales lost 20-14 to winners of the French final championship. Between 1967 and 1978 Edwards won 53 caps for Wales, including 13 as captain. All his hats are won in a row; he has never experienced a decline or injury that allows others to replace him. He scored twenty times in international.
Edwards is Wales' youngest captain, first taking over the captain at the age of 20 in February 1968 against Scotland - a match that the Welsh team won 5-0. Edwards was fortunate to play with two of the best outdoor sides ever played by the game: Barry John and Phil Bennett. Early in his career, Edwards and his team mate at Barry John's side appeared inseparable, always knowing what the others were doing. During that era, the Welsh team dominated the Five State Championships, winning the title seven times, including three grand slams. In 1969, Edwards was voted Best Player of the Year in Wales.
In 1974 Edwards was named the Sports Personality of BBC Wales this year. He followed up this success by receiving MBE in 1975.
He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1976 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews.
Edwards' long and successful international career ended on March 18, 1978 in the same way he started his career - against France at the Five State Championships. However, unlike on his debut, Edwards celebrated the victory with a score of 16-7 in front of the home crowd at Arms Park in Cardiff. Wales also sealed the third Grand Slam and Triple Crown in a row - a record, given that no team has ever won it more than twice in a row. To crown his achievements, he was named Rothmans Player of the Year 1978.
English and Irish Lions
Edwards also played ten times for the British and Irish lions, playing for the 1971 Lions team which is the only team to win the series in New Zealand, and for the unbeaten 1974 team in South Africa.
Cardiff RFC
He made his debut for Cardiff RFC against Coventry on 17 September 1966. All in all he played 12 seasons for Cardiff, scoring 69 tries in 195 matches.
More
Edwards also played for Cardiff College, Wales Secondary Schools, East Wales, Wales, Barbarians, Wolfhounds, Irish Presidents XV, World XV in South Africa in 1977, combined England and Wales against Scotland and Ireland in RFU centenary in 1971, Wales first Sevens SRU centenary team in 1973, and RAF (though not in the Service) on tour in Cyprus 1972.
That Try
Edwards' effort for Barbarian against the All Blacks in 1973 at Cardiff Arms Park, often referred to simply as' try it ', is considered the greatest experiment ever. The move starts with a deep kick from New Zealand winger. The ball fell toward Phil Bennett near his goal line. Bennett ruled out and avoided three tackles, in turn passing the ball to JPR Williams. Next through four pairs of hands (Pullin, Dawes, David and Quinnell) before Edwards, slipping between two teammates and seemingly intercepting the final bait, finished by trying to dive in the left corner.
In a British poll conducted by Channel 4 in 2002, British rugby supporters chose Edwards' historical effort for Barbarians. 20 in the list of 100 Greatest Sports Moments.
Post-roller career
When he writes his autobiography he is labeled a "professional" and is temporarily prevented from training or engaging in any way with rugby union sports.
From 1978 to 1982 Edwards was team captain of the TV Quizzes quiz along with Liverpool and English football players Emlyn Hughes.
In 1997, Edwards was one of the first fifteen former players to be inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame along with (among other) former playing partners Barry John and JPR Williams. He is also the subject of a plaque at the Rugby Pathway of Fame in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, which is credited as a home game.
On November 21, 2001, Edwards was voted "Greatest Welsh Player of all time" at a rugby dinner held at the Cardiff International Arena by the 'Welsh International Former Players Staff Association and First Press Event. Voting is done through Western Mail, South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday and nine Celtic Press titles. The public voice was later sifted by a team of experts and a 'crowd' of nearly 1,000 who were put into the CIA to find out who was 'Biggest'.
In an international rugby player poll conducted in 2003 by Rugby World magazine Edwards was named the greatest player of all time. Surprisingly, Edwards admitted that All Black's scrum-half Sid Going is likely to get better of him during their seven meetings, "As I said, he is the best I played against and, yes, he may have the edge on me in the game that we play ". But Edwards thinks that Mr. Going's play behind may have helped, "... I do not mind playing with the rearguard of the All Blacks... then Sid probably will not come on top". He is now commenting on the game for BBC and S4C, commenting on the last one in Welsh, his mother tongue, and he is one of the few players that appeared in the S4C series Rygbi a Mwy. He is also a director in the Cardiff Blues area, director of dealers at Mercedes Euro Commercials Ltd. and President of the Cardiff Institute for the Blind. The statue of Gareth Edwards stands at St David's Center, Cardiff.
In 1990 he set a British angler record when he landed a weighing  £ 45 6 oz spear in the Llandegfedd Reservoir near Pontypool. Edwards holds the record for two years. He also likes to shoot birds. Edwards is the patron of The Richard Hunt Foundation and in 2010 he was named Patron of the Jaguar Academy of Sport.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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