At international level, Gravell earned 23 caps[1] for Wales and was selected for the 1980 British Lions tour to South Africa.

He first played for Llanelli RFC in 1970 and was a member of the team that beat a formidable touring All Blacks side in October 1972, eventually going on to captain the club for two seasons from 1980 to 1982.

[4] First selected in 1975, Gravell faced an Australia XV at the start of 1976 before joining the Barbarian tour of Canada later that year where he played in six matches.

[4] Often epitomising the hard edge of rugby, Gravell was the classic crash ball centre, thriving on the physical contact of the sport.

He appeared in the BBC TV movie Filipina Dreamgirls, and this led to a role in the 1992 Louis Malle film Damage as the chauffeur of the character played by Jeremy Irons.

In the same year, 1992, Gravell appeared alongside Peter O'Toole in Rebecca's Daughters, a British comedy film directed by Karl Francis that was based on a story by Dylan Thomas.

[6] He also played a gypsy in the 1996 Welsh cult horror film Darklands directed by Julian Richards and starring Craig Fairbrass and Jon Finch.

Six months after the operation and 35 years to the day after Llanelli's famous win over the All Blacks, Gravell died of a heart attack, aged 56.

After his death tributes were led by Welsh Rugby Union chief executive, Roger Lewis, who said "We are all in total shock because Ray was so full of life even through the difficult health problems he suffered recently.

Gravell's flag-draped coffin was carried on to the field by six Llanelli players, from past and present, and placed on a red carpet as the ceremony was conducted.