RUGBY UNION: Wales legend Cliff Morgan backing Exiles' bid (From Bicester Advertiser)

RUGBY UNION: Wales legend Cliff Morgan backing Exiles' bid

9:00am Wednesday 20th March 2013 in Sport

RUGBY legend Cliff Morgan is praying London Welsh stay in the Aviva Premiership, writes PAUL THOMAS.

The man who will forever be remembered for “that” TV commentary 40 years ago on the greatest try ever scored, has an association with the club spanning over 60 years.

The 82-year-old former Welsh fly-half, who lives in Bembridge, on the Isle of Wight, now has to use a valve in his throat to speak following a tracheotomy to beat cancer of the vocal chords.

He said: “It’s very important for London Welsh to stay up. Players may leave the club, go I mean, and that would be a disaster if the club went back down.

“I was happy to see them make it last year and it’s vital they continue to play at Oxford.

“I have so many fabulous memories of London Welsh, it is good to see them reach the top.”

Now with five points deducted as well as a £15,000 fine for fielding an ineligible Tyson Keats at scrum half, Welsh are rooted to the bottom of the table, two points below Sale and survival is in the balance with five games to go.

Morgan’s first association with London Welsh was as a young Welsh international in the early 50s when Wales played England. The Welsh team trained the day before at the Exiles’ then home of Herne Hill in south London.

Later, in 1957, Morgan played in a Welsh XV at Old Deer Park against a London Welsh side with another legend, John Dawes, who is now president of the club.

“It was a place where you had such fun,” he recalled. Morgan retired from the game in 1958 after a successful career with Wales and the Lions, whom he captained to a victory over South Africa in 1955.