"WELCOME FROM BRIAN J. JONES"
"Chairman of Newport R.F.C."
"Exactly one hundred years ago, the 5th April, 1875, Newport Rugby Football Club played their first fixture, and although the Welsh Rugby Union was not formed until 1880, Newport were one of the founder clubs, they joined the Rugby Union. So it is fitting that such a galaxy of British rugby talent should be on view at Rodney Parade this afternoon to pay tribute to the club with dual qualifications."
"Having been honoured with the Chairmanship for this historic season, it is my pleasure to extend a very warm and sincere welcome to Carwyn James and his team, the Presidents and Secretaries of the Rugby Union and the Welsh Rugby Union, the Mayors of Newport and Gloucester, and all other guests."
"When Carwyn accepted the invitation to select a team for this game, he realised the importance of the occasion and has gathered together some of the greatest names in the game's history. We are greatly indebted to him and every member of his team, and on behalf of everyone connected with Newport Rugby Football Club, I would like to say a sincere 'Thank You'. I trust that your visit will be a memorable one, and that the game will be a credit to both teams, and rugby football."
"We at Rodney Parade are very proud of the great heritage we have been left by those who have gone before us. Our contribution both on and off the field has helped make rugby football the great game it is, and although we have not been represented on the International field for a number of years it is certain that 'Black and Amber' men will continue playing their part in the development of the game for the next hundred years."
"During this historic season we have undertaken a series of 'Special Matches', each one has been an outstanding success: the team, coach and officials deserve every congratulation for this, and for also regaining Newport's rightful place in British rugby. Let's hope that the future of Newport Rugby Football Club will hold as much glory as the past One Hundred Years has."
"I have been privileged to hold such high office in this season, and would like to express my sincere thanks to everyone, players, officials, helpers and supporters alike, for their help in making it a memorable one."
"CONGRATULATIONS FROM K. H. CHAPMAN, President R.F.U."
"It is a great honour, and one which I deeply appreciate, to have been asked to write a short article for inclusion in the programme for Newport's big game on the 5th April."
"It was originally suggested that the title of the article might be 'Newport's contribution to the England Rugby Scene' but I am forced to say that I have found this a very difficult subject to write about. Obviously one would not approach such a subject without a good deal of research and I have not only looked at the record books but have (following my own strong belief that the views of genuine players, ex players and followers of the game are far more important than all the statistics in the world); taken the trouble to ask many distinguished old players what their own views might be on this subject."
"The answers have been very varied, several of them very amusing, some of them very pungent and indeed some slightly slanderous. Almost everyone referred sooner or later to Reg Edwards but few were able to name other English International players from the club; a search of my record book has revealed - greatly to my surprise - only four others (E. D. G. Hammett, J. H. Hancock, P. C. Hordern and S. H. Williams).
"One gentleman, who must of course be nameless, assured me that what Newport had done for English Rugby Football was "to lay out a good many of the English players before the match against Wales"! Another chap insisted that the club's biggest contribution was "to take a vast number of tickets for Twickenham matches and to spread them around the valleys so that the crowd at Twickenham is always largely Welsh"! So much for the entrenched loyalties of your really dedicated rugby supporter."
"Quite apart from supplying players of international calibre my own view is that the Newport Club has made an enormous contribution to English rugby by carrying out a strenuous fixture list which includes matches against all the leading English clubs and this provides potential English players with tough, skilful opposition trained in the hard school of the Welsh valleys football."
"I first encountered this football at the tender age of 18 and a half when as a wing three-quarter for the long ago defunct Edgware Club I was brought to Wales on an Easter tour which consisted of matches against Cross Keys, Pontypool, Abertillery, Taunton and Cardiff in six days. What a baptism! I seem to have played surprisingly few matches against Newport for the Harlequin F.C. - no doubt because prior to the war fixtures between the two clubs had been cancelled by agreement between the respective committees owing to a series of particularly rough games which led the pundits to think that a cooling off period was advisable!"
"I do recall, however, being present on the ground which had recently been cleared of straw put down to combat the heavy frost and stacked around the edge. Some enthusiast - perhaps slightly discontented with the poor qualities of our rugby - set fire to his part of the straw and in no time at all we were surrounded by a ring of flame. I recall that at another match at the Harlequin ground at Teddington in which I acted as a touch judge and when (greatly to everyone's surprise) the Harlequins won 3?0 being strongly accused by some Newport supporter of having by one of my decisions as a touch judge cost the Newport club its unbeaten record. There was needless to say no truth in this."
"Much to my regret I cannot be present on the 5th April. It is however, a great pleasure to me to send the best wishes of the Rugby Football Union and everyone connected with English rugby to the Newport club and all associated with it on its great day. We offer our congratulations and best wishes to many many more years of top class ruqbv football."
"CARWYN JAMES PAYS TRIBUTE TO NEWPORT"
"Ymlaen Casnewydd"
"Now, I know what you're going to say. You old fogies are always living in the past. Well, you're quite right there, 'cos, as Tom Twice (or was it Lewsyn Swallow) always says, 'Rugger today is spoiled by . . .'."
"There was a day, the old player will tell you, when winging forwards were winging forwards, true men and bold partial to either the open or the blind not like the flankers, so-called, of today, partial to everything and therefore to nothing in particular. Those winging forwards, he'll tell you, were men of vision, creative men and streamlined to destroy those hateful, jinking small men who were top-heavy with their dreams and the connivings of the mind and their future success."
"There was a day when hookers were honest men content to do the job that God ordained they should do, that is, like good little boys they would strike for the ball at every scrummage. Alas, these days, they too have become discontented with their lot as they engage in such childish sophistications as eight man shoves and the like. Pretentious too. They are breaking every law in the constitution of the front-row fraternity, the finest freemasonry in the world, by insisting on doing a job hitherto reserved for wing threequarters. A hooker throwing in from touch was unheard of in the days of the Terrible Eight."
"And wing threequarters. The skinny, temperamental types who, by their insistence in lying marginally in front of everybody, presumably to protect their reputations for speed, pace and sparks, have cropped many a year from a coach's life. These days, just think of it, they consider themselves footballers first and runners second. Ken Jones, the old supporter will tell you, holder of a record number of appearances for God's own country, was quite content to mind his own business as he served his many tries by invitation. Not for him all this jazz about wing threes being semi full-backs skilled in the arts of line-kicking, steeped in the joys of midfield incursions and the cheek of it - scoring tries on the other wing. Times have changed."
"And so has Rugby Football. For the better there is no doubt. If only we could get that line-out right we would have arguably the finest spectator sport in the world on our hands. That is when players and coaches are committed to play an extended, fifteen-man handling game. Winning yes. Winning in itself brings little satisfaction, winning in the grand manner much."
"Even during the nostalgic, emotive days of celebrating a birthday, life is too bubbly and exciting to engage for too long looking over one's shoulder. No-one can accuse the Newport R.F.C. of ever having done that. Front runners in the playing and the coaching field Newport are there to be watched, emulated, the men to set the pace."
"At a Centenary we must remember and praise our famous men. They would be famous in any era. While realising that the cloud of witnesses from the past are ever-present we may learn from them and pass on all the experience gained to those who play today. The future of Rugby Football at Newport depends on how those lads play the game at Rodney Parade this afternoon."
"In W. Aldred Thomas' short story Ianto Pryce says: "Rugger today is spoiled by . . .". Enough. Rugger today is a spectacular experience because the Black and Ambers play it that way end it's a joy to play against them. As a Scarlet I need only say:"
"Ymlaen Casnewydd"
"Ymlaen Newport."
"Carwyn James"
"A MESSAGE FROM JOHN MARSH, Mayor of the Borough of Newport"
"Over the past century of Newport Rugby Club's history, it has become one of the great British institutions with glorious traditions, which are admired and respected wherever the game is played, all over the world."
"I am very proud to be Vice-President of a club whose history has been both colourful and successful."
"Possibly the Golden Age of the Club began in 1891-92 and ended in 1896-97. The first of these years saw an invincible Newport. In the years that followed came other mighty successes which gratified the local supporters, and firmly established Newport Rugby in the eyes of British rugby enthusiasts."
"The Club's position in Welsh Rugby has always been considerable. Indeed, one could say that the Welsh Rugby Union was born in Newport as it was the brainchild of the then Secretary of Newport Rugby Club, Richard Mullock, who also became the first Secretary of the Welsh Rugby Union."
"More than 150 Newport players have been capped for Wales and in 1892-93 nine of them figured in the triumphant Welsh XV which carried off the Triple Crown. Newport players are also prominent in the list of Welsh international appearances. Ken Jones for instance, a former Newport player, donned the Welsh jersey 44 times, thus creating a record."
"Until the British Lions went to New Zealand in 1971, the Club was invariably represented in British touring sides."
"Many foreign teams have visited Newport who have always risen to the occasion and given an excellent account of themselves. Never more so, perhaps, than in 1960/61 when they attempted to end the Springbok's glory trail, at Rodney Parade in front of 25,000 spectators. Against all odds they humbled the mighty tourists, and although not winning, achieved world-wide acclaim for a gallant performance."
"One world record that Newport shares with Cardiff is that 48,500 spectators were present to watch the local derby at Arms Park in 1951."
"The match today promises to mark the Club's centenary with the splendour it deserves and, I am sure, will be greatly appreciated by rugby fans all over the world."