My Life in Rugby: Dewi Morris – Lions, England & Orwell scrum-half

The first name on my birth certificate is actually Colin – I’m sure if I’d have been called that all my life rather than Dewi there would have been a lot less focus on my Welsh family.
I was born in Crickhowell and brought up in Wales before moving to the north west of England for College.
I had a Welsh dad and an English mum, and I remember when I’d go along to the Arms Park as a youngster I’d sing the Welsh national anthem for dad, and the English one for myself.
People never really seemed to understand that and I got a lot of abuse for being a Welshman playing for England.
When I first got called up for England, it really didn’t feel like a choice, it was just the opportunity to play international rugby.
The first rugby I’d played in England was with Winnington Park when I was studying at college, and then it was when I was playing at Liverpool St Helens that I got a call-up to play for the North of England.
We played against Australia and I played pretty well so the next week I got called up by Geoff Cooke to play for the senior team.
We beat them and I even got a try on my debut.
During that time me and Richard Hill had a good battle for the England jersey, and unlike today, you didn’t pick up caps off the bench.
I finished with 26 in total but there were another 27 when I sat on the bench for England but didn’t get on.
I played until 1989 before losing my place, and it was only in 1992 that I got back into the side.
We got the Grand Slam that year, the second one in a row and then we should have done it again in 1993.
I went on the Lions tour to New Zealand, though, and started all three Tests.
I look back at that series and have some regrets because we could have won it, and more than going on a Lions tour, being on a winning Lions tour means you go down in history.
We lost the first Test 20-18 and it’s fair to say our views on the Australian referee weren’t too far from what Dylan Hartley thought of Wayne Barnes in the Premiership final. Not that we said it on the pitch.
We came back to win the second Test but were well-beaten in the third.
In 1995 I was first choice for the World Cup and it was very special to beat Australia in that quarter-final with Rob Andrew’s late drop goal.
That meant we played New Zealand in the semi-final and I don’t think we touched the ball for the first seven minutes and they blew us away.
The year before we had come up against Inga Tuigamala but Jonah Lomu was just something else. Even when he played that game he was only 80 per cent so it makes you realise how incredible he was.
I played in the third place play-off game against France – which was my final cap – and it was disappointing to lose because we’d been unbeaten against them for a long time.
After that I took a break but I came back to play for Sale when the game turned pro and was asked whether I was up to going on the 1997 Lions tour but there is a time when you know your body has had enough.
Instead I was fortunate enough to land a job commentating on Sky.