With his long mane and iconic sideburns, the fast footed and tough as nails full-back was central to the 70s Golden age of Welsh Rugby, such was his fame and talent he was simply known by his initials JPR and will be remembered as one of the greatest to have ever played the game.
The rugby world mourned the loss of Wales and British & Irish Lions great JPR Williams last month after he passed away aged 74.
They say you should never meet your heroes as you’ll only be disappointed. However, during the pandemic I was busy delivering beer around South Wales filling the gap left by pub closures and supermarket restrictions.
This was when I had the enormous pleasure of delivering beer to JPR, during a social distanced door step chat JPR was lively and talkative about rugby and beer and told me a few stories which combined both! Over the last couple of years I’ve continued to deliver his favourite tipples and found him to be lovely, welcoming and amusing, his wife was delightful too.
Here you can see him kindly posing for a picture for me, holding a bottle of JPR. A beer named after him for having the honour of launching Grey Trees Brewery, which they still brew as a seasonal beer.
So tonight I’ll raise a glass of one of his favourite styles of beer, an American IPA, as the rugby world mourns the loss of a true great. RIP JPR.
See what beers you can try at www.walesales.com. Readers can use code ‘stand5’ at the checkout for a 5% discount.
