THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW
When the curtain comes down on his international career next Saturday, Leigh Halfpenny will need a removal lorry to house all the accolades won in the service of his country.
One stands out, a cut so far above the rest as to elevate the bravest of the brave into a class all by himself. None of those whose names have long been enshrined in the Pantheon of Welsh rugby can match Halfpenny’s achievement one December night before a television audience of almost six million.
He finished runner-up in the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award for 2013. No Welsh rugby player had ever finished that high, not even Sir Gareth Edwards.
His half-back partner, Barry John, came closest in 1971 when he tiptoed like a ghost through the serried ranks of All Black to give the Lions their one, and only, series win in New Zealand. Despite Kiwi admirers anointing him ‘The King,’ Barry had to be content with third place behind a member of the Royal Family, Princess Anne, and a footballing genius, albeit a flawed one, George Best.
Halfpenny finishing second ten years ago took him above a host of household names: the perennial champion jockey AP (Tony) McCoy, Sir Ben Ainslie of America’s Cup fame, Tour de France winner Chris Froome, US Open golf champion Justin Rose, 400-metre champion Christine Ohuruogu and England cricketer Ian Bell.
On a night when Sir Andy Murray won by a landslide, the boy from Gorseinon had the distinction of leading the pack albeit from a distance. Stopping along the catwalk in Leeds that night before the show began, he spoke of the ‘huge honour of being among so many great British sports people’. At the age of 25, a player once advised that he would be too small to make rugby pay as a career, had attained a monumental double. Within barely three months of being voted the player of the Six Nations in March 2013, he had won the ‘Man of the Series’ award during the Lions’ tour of Australia.
It could never get better than that, short of winning the World Cup. At Eden Park two years later he had gone closer than anyone to putting Wales in the final, his long-distance shot falling inches under the crossbar during the final moments of the semi-final against France.
The chance of a lifetime had gone and the fates ensured that there wouldn’t be another. He did make another semi-final, against the Springboks in Yokohama but Wales were not as good then as they had been in Auckland eight years earlier under Sam Warburton.
Halfpenny, known within the dressing-room as ‘Pence,’ had been superseded by Liam Williams as the first-choice full back and yet his very presence in the squad symbolised a victory over recurring adversity.
They say there is a price for everything and Leigh The Lion Heart had been paying for his instinctive readiness to put his body on the line, never to more telling effect than his cover tackle on England wing David Strettle at Twickenham during the 2012 Grand Slam adventure.
After lengthy treatment, he somehow willed himself to stay at his post but there would be other occasions when the severity of the damage made that impossible. Ruptured knee ligaments against Italy towards the end of Wales’ last match before the 2015 World Cup wiped him out of the tournament.
The most controversial incident came against Australia five years ago when Wallaby centre Samu Kerevi flattened him with a shoulder straight to the head. While the referee, Craig Joubert of South Africa, allowed Kerevi to stay on the field, his victim had no such choice.
It took him the best part of nine months to recover from the disturbing effects which forced him to admit: ‘’You don’t know when the headaches are going to stop.”
Another devastating injury, against Canada in July 2021, took a further 15 months out of his Test career. Still Halfpenny kept coming back, good enough for a final World Cup fling even if his role among the supporting cast restricted him to one full appearance, against Portugal.
He may not be as good as in days of yore when he won the race behind Murray but Halfpenny is still the same, still the most humble of superstars.
At coming up 35, the time is right for him to retire and devote whatever remains to his next club, whoever or wherever that may be.
If the roof happens to be closed next Saturday, the crowd will attempt to raise it in one last hurrah for a champion who never knew when he was beaten.
And, in doing so, they will ensure that Wales’ fixture against the Barbarians is about something more edifying than making money.
