Beat the All Blacks and Springboks, then Wales can join the rugby legends

After winning Five Nations championship in 1965 and 1966, Welsh rugby took a backseat to the emergence of France as a world power and Les Blues won back-to-back titles for the second time in that decade. However, in 1967, world rugby heralded the arrival of a young 19-year-old from Pontardawe, a small town in the Swansea valley.

Scrum-half Gareth Edwards started his epic career by captaining the national team one year later – yet in 1968 even he could not stop the French from recording their first-ever Five Nations Grand Slam. The following year, Wales defeated England to win the championship and the Triple Crown (victory over all home unions) - this being the genesis of the golden era of Welsh rugby.

It was the beginning of the legend of a rugby team that some label as the finest to walk the planet – as well as Edwards himself, no doubt the greatest No.9 to ever play the game.

In 1970, Wales shared the championship with France and recorded a 6-6 draw against mighty South Africa in Cardiff – at that time their best-ever result against the Springboks.

The following year is considered by some to have been the finest in Welsh rugby history as they won the Grand Slam using only 16 players in four games. The same year, the renowned British and Irish Lions assembled with Wales centre John Dawes captaining the side – and the Red Dragons contributing more players than any other nation.

With their recent form, the minds of the Welsh players were filled with confidence and belief. New Zealand were themselves in the midst of a dominant age at the time, but wing wizard Gerald Davies recalls: “We actually believed that we could defeat the might of the All Blacks”.

The Lions won 2-1 in New Zealand which to this day remains their only series victory over the All Blacks. In 1972 the Five Nations series was not completed due to “the troubles” in Ireland, while 1973 saw the championship's first and only five-way tie. However, Wales destroyed the Wallabies 24-0 in Cardiff, their greatest victory against the Australians.

In 1975, the Welsh won the Five Nations, before successive Grand Slams in 1977 and 1978 made them the first home union to record three consecutive Triple Crowns.

Following their unprecedented success, half-back partners Edwards and Phil Bennett retired, and months later the Welsh controversially lost 13-12 to the All Blacks, who went to record their first touring Grand Slam.

The year 1979 saw Wales record yet another Five Nations triumph with a Triple Crown - but their great era was nearing its end. With the exception of a shared title with France in 1988, it would be fifteen long years before they again claimed a championship crown.

In this distinguished period of the '70s, Wales fielded legendary players such as Gareth Edwards, Gerald Davies, centre Ray Gravell, Welsh sprint champion JJ Williams and fullback JPR Williams – who had almost became his country's best tennis player before concentrating on rugby.

The Red Dragons in this time won five championship titles, five Triple Crowns and three Grand Slams.  They had an 80 per cent winning record against Five Nations opposition over this time. France – themselves a brilliant team over this period – were the one exception but Wales still won six of ten games against the Tricolors in this time. In all, they recorded 32 wins during the decade, for a 73 per cent overall winning record.

We know the exploits and the stars of the current Welsh team. Players such as Shane Williams, Stephen Jones, Martyn Williams and Gavin Henson help to make up a world-class team.

We could judge the Welsh on the decade since 2000 – but a record of 47 wins and 53 losses does not make for greatness. In 1999, under Graham Henry's coaching, they had a sparkling year, defeating England at Wembley to spoil their Five Nations party, beating France in Paris for the first time in 24 years, and recording their only victory over the Springboks in 93 years of attempts.

One solid comparison of the current team and the side of the '70s is that world rugby was very strong; as it was then, it is now. France are strong while the All Blacks and Springboks are as overwhelming now as they were then.

So this leads us to assess which is the stronger of the two Wales teams of their respective generations. To be fair, the current side would need to win another Grand Slam or even the World Cup in the next four years. But to really call themselves the greatest, they need to achieve two things that even Gareth Edwards and his lads could not.  

Defeating the world champions in South Africa in a few months would be an incredible feat, something never achieved before. But of 11 games lost by the great 1970s side, six of the defeats were inflicted by the All Blacks - the same number Wales have suffered at the hands of the Men in Black this millennium.

Overturn history and beat the top two teams of the world – then let the comparisons begin.