Graham Price MBE
Rugby Dinner Guest Speaker
Graham Price MBE is a former Welsh rugby union player, who was a member of the famous Pontypool RFC front row known as the "Viet Gwent".
He won 41 caps for Wales, and a record 12 for the British and Irish Lions as a prop forward.
He joined Pontypool after leaving school, and played at tight-head prop. With Bobby Windsor and Charlie Faulkner he became part of the legendary front row, also known as the "Viet Gwent" (a play on Viet Cong) and immortalised in song by Max Boyce.
He made his debut for Wales national rugby union team in the 1975 Five Nations Championship against France at the Parc des Princes in Paris. The game featured six players earning their first cap, and the entire Pontypool front line.[6] When the ball was hacked forward some 3 metres (9.8 ft) from the French line following a Welsh counter attack, Price caught the ball as it bounced and ran it in for a try. Wales won by 25–10 their biggest victory over the French since 1909, and the try was subsequently voted the fourth best try ever by a Welsh player.[7] Grand Slams followed for the Wales team in 1976 and 1978.
His record of 12 appearances for a prop for the British and Irish Lions is not expected to be broken.
Outside of Rugby in 2012 Price made a cameo appearance as himself in an episode of the UK comedy drama Stella.
Nowadays Graham shares his experinces as a popular After Dinner Speaker with fellow Rugby lovers.