This was Newport RFC's Centenary Season.

In October Newport defeated Tonga 14 v 6 in a bad tempered match and Geoff Evans, captain for the 3rd season running, suffered a serious knee injury and missed the remainder of the season being replaced as captain by John Jeffrey.

In the first two months Newport lost a remarkable 5 matches - Ebbw Vale, Welsh President's XV, Swansea, Cardiff and Pontypool but then came a wonderful run with only 1 defeat in a 4 month run that ended at Harlequins.

Acting captain John Jeffrey played in 40 of the 50 matches while David Ford played in 47, David Burcher 46 and Jeff Martin 41. Keith Poole played in 35 matches and passed 400 appearances during his career.

Young fullback Jeff Hazzard was top scorer with 162pts in 33 matches while young wing Ken Davies led the try scorers on 22 from 34 matches. Second row Tony Mogridge won the Arthur Boucher award and David Burcher the Martin Webber Trophy.

The Centenary season saw the publication of two books.

'Newport Athletic Club 1875-1975' was printed by the Starling Press of Risca. With a Foreword by F. W. Harrison O.B.E., J.P., B.Sc., President of Newport Athletic Club. It included chapters relating to Rugby, Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Men's Hockey, Bowls and Ladies' Hockey. Two separate chapters dealt firstly with newer sections such as Badminton, Table Tennis, Bridge and Netball; and secondly with the dormant sections of Athletics, Gymnasium and Archery.

'One Hundred Years of Newport Rugby' by author Jack Davis was published by the Starling Press with a celebratory evening at Rodney Parade on 4th December 1974 to mark its publication. Not without some errors, the book remains an invaluable source for those interested in the history of rugby at Rodney Parade and is much sought after. Sadly, the author died on 28th April 1974 whilst "...production of this book was in full swing, and the publication of his work had been anticipated by him with excitement and a sense of achievement".

Early in the second half of the season the match programme for the game against Llanelli on 25th January 1975, the great Llanelli and British Lions coach, Carwyn James, contributed to the Centenary celebrations by penning his delightful 'REFLECTIONS OF NEWPORT' as follows:-

"Hawddamor, Casnewydd, Henffych well."

"Greetings, and the sincerest greetings of the Scarlets on this your hundredth year. There are signs, murmurings that your various celebrations have been worthy of such a birthday. Whatever other celebrations you have, and I look forward to joining you on two of those occasions, none will give such pleasure as the performance of the lads on the field. And they are, they certainly are, producing the goods."

"It's sad, very sad, when one of the top clubs is facing a lean time. Welsh Rugby can't afford it. The strength of Welsh Rugby is in its clubs and I, for one, hope that our administrators will never forget this. Newport versus the All Blacks - yes, what a record you have against touring teams and the cloud of witnesses ever present at Rodney Parade and in that fine museum of yours nod their assent. There are some political animals who would push the claims of East Gwent, sorry, Dwyrain Gwent versus the All Blacks. Demolish the counties, smash the schools, to hell with tradition!"

"Just then I checked, re-checked and checked again to make absolutely certain that the rumour circulating down West isn't true, that since we had Ted Heath to speak at our dinner, a member of the Wedgewood family had been made a Patron of your club. What price patronage! And that Baxter Wright, Big Harry and Ackerman, three wise men from the East, were contemplating fixtures with Lokomotiva, Constructsia and Stalinskaia, Winds of change."

"So comforting, therefore, to browse through Jack Davis' "One Hundred Years of Newport Rugby", the story of a great amateur Rugby club, six invincible seasons and in two other seasons just missing invincibility by goal kicks (oh! for the differential penalty), one of them delightfully inflicted by Llanelli in the 1894-5 season when Newport scored two unconverted tries against Llanelli's goal and a try. We've never lived it down, but we're nice people really."

"My memory of Newport goes back to the early fifties. Easter weekend visits touring with London Welsh, comfortably housed in the Castle Hotel, Vernon and Roy and the crachach permanently entrenched in a Bass house, delightful Sunday morning services in a Welsh chapel, tough games at Rodney Parade followed by grimmer encounters at Pontypool Park on the morrow. And then Llanelli."

"Our trump card, no, just one of them was that we spoke Welsh on the field, the Westy's one-upmanship. "Wynne, ar y dde." Wynne Evans would dutifully pass right. "Wynne, nol a hi," and Evans would appreciate the need for the deep pass for a drop goal. Despite the one-upmanship, I never really understood, until much later on in life, why that man Whitson was always around pursuing the correct angle to be the maximum nuisance to a pair of nice guys who wanted to please the crowd. Apparently, and it wasn't cricket really, John Phillips from the bowels of the scrum would listen and being a fluent Welsh speaker he would translate our signals for the likes of Davidge, Cresswell and Whitson. The cunning of it."

"And there was Burnett, always Burnett, put there to plague us. What pace, what cheek, what composure. Thomas in the centre, Meredith playing like a centre, a team of talents. I've not checked the results in the mid-fifties, in case. But I know I enjoyed playing against the Black and Amber so and so's, the word eludes me, I must ask that prop from Cardiff what he calls them."

"You're supposed to win the cup in your centenary year. The better clubs do it. You may still be drawn to play at Waunarlwydd, who knows, perhaps at Stradey Park, I'll say no more in case I tempt fate and find the Scarlets at Rodney Parade. Sorry about the 25th - you're on a good run of wins, so are we. A point could have been proved. Still, it doesn't matter."

"I wish you well. You deserve all the success you can get in a historical season. May the finest traditions of the Club be maintained by your members, your players and, above all, by your Chairman and his Committee. All around us we see the fine things of life dissipated by disciples of change for change's sake."

"Ymlaen Casnewydd fo'r nod ac adeiladu ar y sylfaen gref a grewyd dros y can mlynedd. Pob bendith."

Numerous other 'Birthday Greetings' were published in match programmes throughout the season, many to be found on this site recorded against the relevant game. But below are three more published in the match programme for Newport v Watsonians on Boxing Day 1974:-

"WINSTON MCCARTHY pays tribute to Newport from New Zealand"

"A fine compliment indeed for a New Zealander to be asked to contribute to the Centennial of such an historic Rugby Club as Newport. And finer still that I should be chosen."

"In his letter to me your Programme Editor, Brian J. Jones, wrote ... "I am certain that you will remember with pleasure such great Newport players as Ken Jones, Bob Evans, Malcolm Thomas, Bryn Meredith, David and Stuart Watkins and Brian Price." How could I forget them, and the many great moments of pleasure they gave me and so many thousands of others: the day the stripling Malcolm Thomas opened the 1950 Lions' tour at Nelson, kicking six penalty goals and then running fifty yards to score a try. Running, did I say? He started off that way when he intercepted a pass; but the final 15 yards closely resembled Jim Peters' exhausted effort to win the Marathon at Vancouver in 1954!"

"Brian Price, a good friend of mine, unwittingly contributed to one of the finest "Hollywoods" it has been my good fortune to witness on a Rugby field. The scene: Cardiff Arms Park. The occasion: Wales v. Ireland. The year 1968. The scenario: A ruck about halfway, with Brian facing his own goal, struggling to get out and be of some use. Then the arrival of Ireland's durable Noel Murphy who, to show he knew the then new Law, threw his right arm across the ruck to bind. Alas, the hand in curling, brushed across Brian's eyes just as he broke free. He turned, and Noel, thinking he had the ball, dived at him. At the same moment Brian, feeling that Murphy had deliberately clocked him, let fly with a right upper-cut. Undoubtedly it was the poorest punch I have ever seen thrown, starting from below the knee and connecting with the side of Noel's mouth. Then the drama! Shocked, but in no way hurt, Noel stretched himself to full height while a horrified Brian waited for the pointing finger of dismissal."

"But the show was now all Noel's. He turned towards the grandstand, his head high and dignified, befitting a Prince of Irish players, as though imploring the sympathy of the young Prince of Wales seated in the Royal Enclosure, then crashed to the ground like a felled oak! Drama in excelsis! How the crowd roared!"

"Sitting in the TV box with David Coleman, Andy Mulligan and the renowned Cliff Morgan, I chortled. The punch was trivial and I knew Noel was unhurt. I'll swear it was the only punch Brian ever threw in a match - and Noel knew the same, hence the "Hollywood". It was then Coleman turned to us in the box and asked, rather querously, I thought, "What do you have to do to be ordered off at Rugby?"."

"Be a New Zealander", I answered before the others, with visions of the great Colin Meads getting his "orders" in Scotland.

"To complete the story: the dialogue: there was no dialogue."

"Has there ever been a greater wing-threequarter than Ken Jones? Not that I have seen - and I've seen some really greats ranging over a period of 55 years. Yes, wingers from all countries including Ron Jarden, Jack Steel and Grant Batty of N.Z."

"But king of them all was Ken Jones."

"The fact that he was an Olympic sprinter was only part of his greatness. He was a superb tackier, a beautiful handler, as gutsy as they come; but in addition he had a priceless asset - a cool, clear brain, allied with a disciplined determination to follow the ball at all stages of the game. Who else but Jones could have been on hand to take the pass from Lewis Jones at half way on Eden Park in 1950 and sprint away to score that sensational try? Or at Cardiff Arms, to pick up Clem Thomas' cross-kick and score under the bar? Thank you, Ken, for many memorable moments."

"But your Programme Editor must also permit me to mention one or two other Newport players who have contributed to my enjoyment. There was a balding half-back who played against the Kiwis in 1945-46 for both Newport and Monmouthshire. Many of you will remember Jim Hawkins, a gifted player and tremendous leader. He it was who scored the simplest of tries to draw the Newport match, simple only for the fact he made it look so easy. And that day at Pontypool, with snow ringing the hills, when the Kiwis were beaten 15-nil with Hawkins calling the tune. It was the Kiwis good fortune that the selectors failed to pick him for Wales. There were other Newport players in the team at Pontypool that memorable day. Forwards F. C. Morris, E. O. Coleman and A. J, Evans. In the backs with Hawkins were full-back T. Griffiths; wings W. E. Williams and Ross Johnson, while at centre was the greatest opportunist I ever saw, Hedley Rowlands. Three times he scored, two of the tries being from interceptions inside the Monmouth 25! Could that boy run! Just in case you might feel that my memories are gilded pictures of a lost youth, I will quote from my diary written on the Kiwi tour: "Hawkins, who also captained Newport against us, was the outstanding player on the field, a "shrewd-head" and a grand footballer." Thank you, Newport."

"And while New Zealand's last game against Newport gave you a win by only John Uzzell's pot, we will come again. The try count is against you 5-4 at the moment {not counting the three scored by our Native team in 1888!). In the years to come may we both increase that total, for scoring tries should be the aim of all teams at all times."

"Enjoy your Centennial. God bless."

...... and from France ;-

"HEUREUX CENTENAIRE..."

"Au moment ou apres 100 ans d'existence le NEWPORT ATHLETIC CLUB va reprendre unenouvelle jeunesse en entrant dans son deuxieme centenaire, la FEDERATION FRANCAISE DE RUGBY est heureuse de s'associer avec ses amis pour venir apporter son salut le plus cordial a l'un des clubs gallois qu'elle a le mieux apprecie a l'occasion de ses nombreuses visites en FRANCE."

"Pour tous ceux d'entre nous qui avons eu l'occasion de participer, de diriger, ou d'observer, les matches joues par le club dont la cravate porte le double embleme, il ne fait aucun doute que le plaisir est grand de s'associer a une telle fete."

"Nous avons souvenir de tres belles prestations fournies sur les pelouses francaises par le club de NEWPORT. Il nous apparait que le double embleme de la cravate dont nous parlions plus haut n'est pas seulement quelque chose de symbolique mais nous avons eu plaisir a voir allier dans le jeu de votre club a la fois l'elegante inspiration anglaise et la volonte ferme et ardente qui inspire les purs gallois."

"Il etait inevitable que cette double inspiration conduise a quelque chose de specialement createur et efficace et il nous apparait que vous avez su atteindre ce but."

"Nous serons toujours heureux de revoir le NEWPORT ATHLETIC CLUB sur les terrains francais et nos clubs, lorsqu'ils se livreront aux loyaux combats qui nous opposeront, en retireront toujours un benefice et un plaisir."

"Merci de tout cela, Amis de NEWPORT et heureux anniversaire."

"WALES, NEWPORT AND A SOUTH AFRICAN"

"By Tommy Bedford - Natal - South Africa - Barbarians - Oxford University"

"Although the Welsh would sometimes rather forget their biggest rugby defeat in history, it is strangely enough the International I remember most."

"On that warm and sunny day in May of 1964 at King's Park here in Durban, following on an indifferent display by the Springboks against the Australians the previous year, this largely dull match was nevertheless a great day for South Africa. Even Dr. Danie Craven commented smilingly afterwards; "You Springboks have today restored the faith and confidence in our rugby. The whole country is proud of you"."

"As an impressionable youngster, barely out of his teens and wearing the green and gold for only the fifth time, playing on his home ground before his own people, and beating Wales "so convincingly" (if only in the last ten minutes or so), it was a momentous occasion."

"As a result, I think, the Welsh and their rugby have ever since held a special place in my memories. So too has Newport."

"For, in all the pre-match preparations and team talks, prior to this International, I was left in no doubt as to the magnitude of my task and role. Since the great and established second row forward Frik du Preez had been selected to play flank forward on the blind side (so as to give the Springboks more power in the scrums and expertise in the line-outs), my role as open side flank forward was almost solely to go for and shadow Dai Watkins at fly half. This little man's reputation has caused me sleepless nights. After all, Dai came from Newport. And Newport, with its distinctive hooped colours of yellow and black, was a great and famed Welsh Club, steeped in history, revered and respected wherever rugby was, and is, spoken. Newport, who of all teams in the British Isles alone had managed to inflict defeat upon Wilson Whineray's 1963 All Blacks."

"And so it was too that the mercurial Dai from Newport continued throughout that match to be a nightmare as he jinked and darted his way round the field, both through and past me."

"No wonder then, that when I had the good fortune to go to Oxford and captain the University team some years later, a freckle-faced freshman with red hair and a broad Welsh accent, from the valleys, arrived simultaneously at Iffley Road. In fact, it was even more fortuitous for me that he, by some strange quirk of fate, had succeeded Dai as flyhalf for Newport."

"Bob Philips became both ally and friend; and of course, fly half for the University. It is not difficult to surmise subsequently how Newportonians Brian Jones and Ian McJennett travelled frequently from Wales to help scheme, coach and counsel in the pre-Varsity match preparations. We were successful. We beat Cambridge at Twickenham - a Cambridge team captained by yet another Welshman, one Brian Rees (of hooker fame)."

"So, the story and the association goes on. Of, for example, the two hours and more spent locked in the Rodney Parade change rooms with the Springboks, prior to the Newport match on that demo tour of 1969/70; and of the beers consumed in quiet pubs in Cardiff, incognito with my Newport friends during the same "unhappy" but most interesting of rugby tours; and of Newport's subsequent tour to South Africa in 1973, the makings of which were first launched in one of those quiet Cardiff pub gatherings; and of the many friends Newport made in this country on tour - nowhere more so than here at King's Park in Durban, where our paths first crossed ten years ago."

"May they keep on crossing well into your next 100 years!"