FORMER Welsh rugby international Dafydd Jones will be signing his new book Dal Fy Nhir (Stand My Ground) at the Farmers’ Union of Wales Pavilion at 11am on the second day of the four-day Royal Welsh Show (Tuesday July 19) in Llanelwedd, Builth Wells.
The ex-Scarlets back-row player is midway through a testimonial year with his Llanelli-based club. Born in Aberystwyth, he was capped 42 times for Wales but he is still a country boy at heart.
"The FUW has a close relationship with the Scarlets as the club covers virtually the whole of rural Wales from where it recruits most of its promising young players," said the union’s president Emyr Jones.
"Last February prominent Welsh Black Cattle breeder, FUW member Trefor Jones of Bow Street, near Aberystwyth, provided a Welsh Black bull which led the pre-match parade around the Parc y Scarlets pitch when the region hosted Ulster in a Magners League match.
"The appearance of the bull was part of the Farm Day events which we enthusiastically took part in at the stadium before and after the match. So it is fitting that Dafydd should be spending time on our stand during the show.
"He is a young man from rural Ceredigion and as a young boy from the countryside he developed an interest in hunting and trotting races.
"Whilst at Aberaeron Comprehensive School he began taking an interest in rugby and soon won the interest of Llanelli rugby club.
"After playing his last ever game against New Zealand be was forced to give up rugby due to injury. It’s a shame that his career came to an end before his passion for the game faded - but his passion for the rural way of life in Wales remains as strong as ever which is evident in his book."
Dafydd was faithful to the club of the "Sosban Fach" throughout his career, playing more than 200 times for Llanelli and the Scarlets.
His biggest compliment came from Richie McCaw, the world’s best wing forward, when he said that Dafydd Jones was the hardest opponent he’d ever faced.
His book, published by Y Lolfa, Talybont, Ceredigion, at £9.95, has been described as the autobiography of a "warm-hearted Welshman", looking back over his career, giving his no-nonsense opinion of the coaches he played for and telling stories of some stars of world rugby on and off the pitch.
