Former Welsh Rugby player Andy Powell earned a reputation as something of a wild character off the field and his stories had a captivated audience at the Athletic Club in fits of laughter in a question and answer session involving stand-up comedian Phil Howe, who hails from Ferndale, in the Rhondda Valley.
Powell is clearly a relaxed character and willingly mingled with his audience prior to his time in the spotlight on the superb stage set, including sofa, coffee table and wall captions, designed by Jason Morgan.In the third such event organised by Morgan and Johnny Sutton, following from earlier evenings with top former New Zealander Zinzan Brooke and renowned Welsh referee Nigel Owens, there were stories about Powell’s playing days with a number of clubs, Wales, The British Lions and The Barbarians.
Undoubtedly the most sought-after explanation from the audience was the now-infamous ‘Buggy drive up the M4’ which ultimately cost Powell his Welsh place in the back row after 23 caps and with the expectation of plenty more until that fateful evening where he fancied a cigarette at 5.30am but there were none available at the WRU’s Vale Headquarters after a last-gasp win in an international against Scotland.
He had a willing accomplice in another Welsh player but took the blame at the service station one and a half miles up the road - and as well as his 15-month driving ban and £1,000 fine he was dropped from the Welsh squad the very next day.
“It wasn’t the best idea I have ever had,” he said with typical under-statement!
He also answered questions about his debut against South Africa, where he gained the ‘Man of the Match’ award, his selection for the British Lions in South Africa, and representing The Barbarians as other memorable moments, but not for the rugby side of the stories but some of the outrageous things that went on.
It is to his credit that Powell, who hails from Brecon and now coaches the town’s first team, is always first to explain that when he looks back now some of the incidents he was embroiled in were the result of instant, and not always the wisest, decisions he has ever made but it would be interesting to see the response if he ever, like other Welsh Rugby internationals, decided to write a book!And further proof of Powell’s inherently friendly nature can be gauged from the fact that during the evening he had spoken to a young man with special needs and afterwards he presented him with a signed piece of sporting memorabilia as a memento of the evening.
Co-organiser Jason Morgan was delighted with Powell’s participation in the event and apologised for the fact that renovations at the club meant a lower than usual standard of presentation for those who supported it.
But those in attendance were in accord as they clearly enjoyed what was a lively event involving a real character of Welsh rugby!