He joined Llanelli RFC in 1961 and was the team's captain when they won the league in the 1972–73 season and was also the captain when Llanelli beat a touring All Blacks team in 1972.
He worked as an electricity board linesman, climbing telegraph poles to make repairs.
His famous speech to his players before the game included his statement that he would willingly trade everything he had achieved with Wales and the Lions for victory that day "on our own ground in front of our own people".
[4] He played for the Wales national youth team at age eighteen and won his first cap against Australia in December 1966[5] and was first choice as lock for the team until he retired from international rugby in 1974, playing his last International in his only loss against England.
During his penultimate season, he was Wales' captain in the game against New Zealand in Cardiff.