Barry John
As of March 25, 1972
Barry John (born 6 January 1945 Cefneithin ) is a former Welsh rugby union player. He is considered one of the best players on the position of the connector in the history of the sport and thus received the nickname "The King". John played for the clubs Llanelli RFC and Cardiff RFC and was active for the Welsh national team and the British and Irish Lions. He was known for his skill, his wit and his strong kicking game, and together with Gareth Edwards play a strong duet for Wales.
John began his career in Llanelli, but soon moved on to Cardiff, where he also played in the club along with Edwards. In 1966 he made his debut for Wales against Australia. At this time, the Welsh national team lost many of their games. Despite this relative lack of success John was nominated for the tour of the British and Irish Lions in 1968 to South Africa. Early on, he was injured but heavy, so it turned out for the rest of the targeted games.
In 1969, a new era in Welsh rugby came, in the team was able to take a dominant role in world rugby. The first step was winning the Five Nations tournament. This was followed by successful tours in the southern hemisphere, whose output Barry John at the beginning of the 1970s had a significant share. In 1971 he was nominated again for the Lions and was responsible for the first and only victorious tour of a British selection in New Zealand. During this time he also received his nickname " The King"; he was now grown to become a TV star and was regarded as the greatest talent in rugby.
Only one year later, however, John Barry was only 27 years surprising end of his career known and shocked so that the Welsh public. The reason for the abrupt end of his career was the hype around him, he could not withstand. Ultimately crucial for his resignation was the moment when a young girl a Knicks made before him and bowed, in allusion to his nickname. In a press conference he expressed himself in the following words about this:
With the end of his career he retired completely from public life also.
He was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 1997.