His Five Nations debut was made in the South stand at Murrayfield when
Scotland entertained Wales in 1983. Wales won and the ten year old John
sold his match day leek - which had travelled on the car radio aerial from
Yorkshire - to an inebriated Welshman.
Sadly since then watching Wales play has not been such a joyful experience.
Numerous low points included the 2003 Scotland v Wales game in which John
was not alone in expressing surprise at the programme notes, which stated
that Wales had a skills' coach.
A collector of rugby programmes, he has written articles for numerous
magazines including New Zealand Rugby News and New Zealand Rugby World.
As a sixteen year old he got his first piece published in the Canterbury
programme when they entertained the Grand Slam Scots of 1990. He was a
regular contributor to that programme for several years.
John can be seen in the letters' pages of newspapers moaning about the
state of Welsh rugby or calling for law changes - allowing Wales to play
with extra players for instance.
A secondary school teacher in North Yorkshire, John spends much of his
day dreaming about British Lions' tours and playing for Wharfedale Fifth
team.
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