Welsh rugby: Gareth Edwards: His master's voice

Iain Morrison finds Gareth Edwards just as in love with rugby – and talking – as he's always been.

WHAT DOES ONE SAY to Gareth Edwards? The man is one of rugby's living legends, revered throughout the game, an entity who inhabits that twilight zone where it's almost impossible to extricate the man from the myth; a character who has been singled out by Rugby World readers as the best player ever to have graced the game. Well, the first words I ever said were: "Can you tell me the way to the local gym please?"

In my defence this meeting took place a decade ago when I was driving aimlessly about Cardiff looking for the Welsh squad. I stopped at some traffic lights and asked the bloke next to me to roll down his passenger window to ask directions. It turned out to be a very obliging Edwards and after that I was a little disappointed that Barry John didn't serve me my morning coffee.

Thankfully my second meeting with Edwards lasts a little longer and the former scrum-half says more than, "left at the lights and follow your nose". Indeed the Welshman offers so much more that it proves difficult to stem the tide once he gets into his stride. I have to dive in at the slightest pause for breath for fear he'd still be talking now. If Edwards is renowned for his exploits on the field, his limitless enthusiasm for talking about the game he loves must come a close second.

The statistics only tell half the story. He turned out 53 times for his country and captained them on 13 occasions but the golden era of Welsh rugby can be gauged pretty accurately by measuring Edwards' own career that stretched from 1967 to 1978 and which included a grand total of five Triple Crowns and three Grand Slams. After the feast came the famine. In the dark days in the 1980s and 1990s the Welsh teams seemed to sag under the great weight of those who went before them and there must have been a time when Edwards imagined Welsh rugby would never recover?

"Yes! I think there were reasons to substantiate that. I think that like in most things, if you don't have the grass roots then there is a danger that things will fail. The success that we had was taken for granted, there was turmoil in the schools and the move from grammar schools to the comprehensive system diluted our rugby when some people thought it would strengthen it.

"There are lots of contributing factors, more competition from different sports on television like golf and football, and rugby struggled quite a bit for a number of years. You see, if the young ones don't have their heroes then you lose the grass roots.

"When we won in 2005 the Grand Slam seemed to come out of thin air. I don't think anyone made any money betting on it happening. I am not saying that Wales were lucky, they were the best team and they deserved it, I am just saying that it was unforeseen.

"I was just talking about this to my kids the other day and they said that they hadn't even witnessed a Grand Slam (before 2005] and you remember that the last one was 28 years ago and that's a hell of a long time, an entire generation missed out."

Happy days are here again. The national team have secured two Grand Slams in the space of four years and the Cardiff Blues are the only unbeaten team in the Heineken Cup. The presence of the Ospreys in the quarter-final mix means that Murrayfield could host an all-Welsh final. These are heady times for the men in red and they are about to attempt what even Edwards' golden generation was unable to achieve: back to back Grand Slams.

"Well, certainly I think they are capable of achieving back to back slams," says Edwards, with the words tumbling out of his mouth. "There are some exceptionally good players in the squad and they have the experience of last year to back them up. The problem is that they have three matches away from home this year so it will be more difficult and we have a tricky one first up at Murrayfield.

"In a funny sort of way I think that the Welsh respect the Scots more than the Scots do. I lost at Murrayfield a couple of times and usually with a team that, on paper at any rate, was better than the Scottish one. The Scots would always win when you'd least expect it. I have plenty of time and respect for Scottish rugby.

"The good thing about this squad and management is that they don't talk about it (the Grand Slam], they have their goals and they keep their feet firmly on the ground."

As does Edwards. Former Scotland great Ian McLauchlan, who toured with the Welshman more than once, had this to say of his former teammate: "What you have to realise is that Gareth is still exactly the same guy that he was when he first started out playing the game. He hasn't changed a bit despite his stardom, no, despite his superstardom, and not just in Wales but throughout the rugby world."

This rings true. Edwards is thoughtful and friendly with not a hint of the self regard that is almost mandatory for someone who has spent the greater part of his life in the spotlight. It may be an obvious thing to say but Edwards is also very, very Welsh. His first language was Welsh so he still speaks English with that familiar lilting sing-song pattern and he shares his countrymen's love of talking, whatever the language.

In addition to the honours he won with his native country, Edwards also toured with the Lions on three occasions and emerged victorious on two of them, New Zealand in 1971 and South Africa three years later. He is now an ambassador for the banking giant HSBC and he suggests that the players will need to up the ante in the Six Nations ahead of the biggest challenge of their sporting lives.

"The players need to cement their Lions places during this Six Nations. Ian McGeechan knows exactly what is required, he has great experience, and he'll be looking for all the right combinations.

"In the first game the battle between (Mike] Philips and (Mike] Blair may determine the Lions scrum-half. Philips is a real force at the top of his form and he is coming back from injury just in time. I am also a great fan of Blair and he has a very good chance of securing one of the scrum-half berths . The contrast is good, Philips is big and strong while Blair is more like Dwayne Peel, with good skills and a good brain. He is playing very well at the moment but it will depend upon the Six Nations.

"The selectors have got a backbone of players that they know they want to take but there are not too many of them who have been in outstanding form and they must rise to the challenge in the next couple of months if they want to cement their tour place."

Time marches on and Edwards' mobile demands to be answered so I throw a number of quickfire questions at him. He'd prefer a Welsh coach to a New Zealander but you can't argue with what Warren Gatland has achieved. He'd pay money to watch Shane Williams play the game, "the biggest compliment I can give him is to say that everything he is doing, Gerald Davies did for a decade", and while he'd personally prefer to play with James Hook, he thinks Stephen Jones will start against Scotland. Lastly he admits that he'd jump at the chance to play pro rugby, "if I was a 20-year-old now and someone asked me if I'd like to be paid to play the game I love, well, yes, of course I would play".

Should he ever discover the elixir of youth I ask Edwards if I can be his agent because goodness knows what salary the scrum-half would command. The Welshman laughs out loud, thanks me for the compliment and hurries away to answer his phone. Someone wants to talk to Edwards and the Welsh legend wants to talk right back.

• Gareth Edwards is an HSBC ambassador. HSBC is the Principal Partner of the British & Irish Lions. www.lionsrugby.com

STRENGTHS

A winning attitude, a shrewd coaching team and an inspirational support. Wales are deserving favourites. And they have more depth than last year because of the form of Cardiff and the Ospreys in Europe. Confidence oozes out of their pores

WEAKNESSES

All the pressure is on them. Last time they won a Grand Slam they imploded the following season, though Warren Gatland is not likely to meet the same sorry fate as Mike Ruddock. Their line-out is the one area that is vulnerable. Playing in Scotland first-up is a big ask as well. This tournament is all about momentum and should they lose things could unravel quickly.

ODDS: 7/4 favourites

THE CAPTAIN

Ryan Jones (pictured) is the leader but will he start? Gatland has been coy, saying only that the competition for places in the back-row is immense and that Jones needs to show what he's made of.

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

Andy Powell came into the team in the autumn and had everyone wondering where on earth he'd been all this time. The No.8 takes the ball up with such ferocity that it's the devil's own job to bring him down.

PIN-UP BOY

It's Gavin, of course. Henson has a magnificent record in the Six Nations and Wales are a mighty force when he's around. Only the blessed Danny Cipriani comes close on the stud stakes.

YOU WOULDN'T WANT YOUR DAUGHTER DATING...

Prop Adam Jones (pictured). If you see him coming to the door you'd chuck him a quid for a cup of tea and wish him a decent night's sleep in his cardboard box.

IMPACT SUB

James Hook is a handy man to have on the bench if, indeed, that is where it starts. He was once the darling of the Millennium. Probably will be again once he gets himself back in the side.

SIX NATIONS RECORD

No side has had so many peaks and troughs. Two Grand Slams in the last four years and yet in the years in between they only won two games out of 10. In the years leading up to their Slam in 2005 they won a mere eight games out of 25. Overall in the decade they have won 19 out of 45.

LAST SEASON

England 19 Wales 26

Wales 30 Scotland 15

Wales 47 Italy 8

Ireland 12 Wales 16

Wales 29 France 12

NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW THIS

Gavin Henson has started 10 Six Nations for Wales and, remarkably, has won all 10.

COACH

Warren Gatland: smart, good motivator, brilliant coach of forwards, incredibly successful at the top level for a relatively young man.

MOST LIKELY TO SAY

"Getting sacked by Ireland was the best thing that ever happened to me."

LEAST LIKELY TO SAY

"One Grand Slam is enough."

MISSING IN ACTION

The source of some discussion in Wales but Warren Gatland has no regrets about leaving Dwayne Peel out of his squad, punishment, perhaps, for leaving Wales to join Sale.