The Mike Hall Story: How Welsh Rugby Nearly Changed Forever And Cardiff City Reached The Premier League: The Autobiography

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Finding Mike 'Spike' Watkins, the unique Wales rugby captain who 'didn’t give a f***' and ended up in Bangkok

Before the tournament started I remember going to the welcome dinner and looking across and seeing this massive young guy who I just assumed was a second-row," said Lewis. We were playing against Neath on a Wednesday night in 1994 and their prop Brian Williams had hit Stuart Roy and closed his eye, in those days when violence was part of the game. That’s the only itch I haven’t scratched in my career. I think I would have enjoyed being a Director of Rugby.I remember I had lots of people writing to me saying I should take him to court, but it never even crossed my mind. As for a team-mate, Rob Howley was ahead of his time and when he came to Cardiff in 1995-96 he was winning games on his own for us. Eddie ‘Ned’ Thornton is heralded as one of the most unique and insightful characters to ever play the game within the province. He represented both Terenure College RFC and UCD, winning two Leinster Senior Cups with each. He also held a variety of roles within the Leinster Branch in coaching and administrative field including president for 1999-2000.

But then I got the letter, saying I was invited to go to Australia. You don’t believe it at first. You look at it and show the family. We all blended in with each other and Finlay Calder led from the front as skipper. He was a fabulous guy. Like granite, intelligent, physically hard. Alec thought he could just go to the World Cup with the spine of the Cardiff team and do what he had done in the domestic game, which was never going to work.It did get scary. There were some sleepless nights and some worrying meetings. The 2008-2009 period was really difficult for us when the recession came and the crash happened. I didn't want to come home after because it was such a crushing disappointment not to qualify." Iconic images Alex was a brilliant coach but he had time with the Cardiff players. When he came into the club he liked a certain type of player to play and it took him a year or two to get rid of some of those he didn't want and bring in his own staff to mould the team how he wanted it. But then when we had an injury in the front row, our coach Bryn Elliot - God rest his soul - said ‘On you go, Mike’.

All I can remember is being out on my feet for the last 20 minutes. We had played three games in a week and it was tough.It’s a four-year cycle of players staying on contracts, or managers and coaches staying, it’s all become geared to that – it’s very exciting, it’s very different to my day.” It was almost an accepted part of the game that there was going to something going on. There weren’t any yellow cards then and hardly any red cards, so people got away with a lot more. There was a lot more violence in the game. First of all, I never lost there, which was unusual, especially playing for Wales in those days. I was on the bench when we won the Triple Crown there in 1988 and played in the wins in 1992 and 1994. His obvious ability in the position soon attracted the attention of a number of first-class clubs and, in 1982, he joined Bridgend, where he was to spend seven contented years.

You hear the current generations speak equally glowingly, despite the changes the game has gone through in the past two decades, but why does it mean so much? As he now moves on from PMG and reflects on his time with the company, he does so with a lot of pride. It was a fine career, one that spanned more than 25 years, taking in a triumphant Lions tour and 35 Wales caps. Now, after more than 20 years with that property development company, PMG, he is moving on and ready to embark on the next chapter of his life. When we catch up for a chat near his home in Pontcanna, it becomes clear his has been a career like few others.They took over the world No 1 spot after beating England two weeks ago, and held their status after England’s victory over Ireland last weekend. Nor will you find Griffiths complaining about any of the skullduggery he was on the receiving end during his playing days. The council were basically saying ‘We are not going to gift you this land and allow you to build this stadium and do all this development if we don’t think you have got a credible business plan’. A: It does, when you think about the ill-discipline, the animosity that was on that trip, particularly between the Neath and Llanelli players.