Imagine, for a moment, the following scenario. Having broken his neck in a freak rugby accident and avoided paralysis by a millimetre, the player concerned is back for a meeting with his spinal consultant. The specialist advice is crystal clear. Make the most of your second chance and, if you fancy staying alive, never do either of the following again: dive off a high board or resume playing rugby.<\/p>\n
And now just imagine being the kind of guy who leaves the room and immediately nips home to pick up his swimming trunks before heading to the nearest swimming pool. Who puts on the swimmers, climbs up to the highest platform and dives straight off. Not once but twice. The rationale being that, if he survives, there will be no reason not to give rugby another go.<\/p>\n
Welcome to the scarcely believable and frequently mad world of \u201cThe Bish\u201d. Anyone with the remotest knowledge of 1980s Welsh rugby union will instantly recognise the nickname. Along with all the hair-raising stories. David Bishop of Pontypool and, all too briefly, Wales remains perhaps the best \u201cone-cap wonder\u201d in the history of British team sport and unquestionably the most colourful.<\/p>\n
There were those who reckoned The Bish \u2013 the quasi-ecclesiastical nickname was bestowed on him by his late, great friend and Pooler teammate Eddie Butler \u2013 was an even better scrum-half than the legendary Gareth Edwards. And he was never the type to disabuse them. \u201cAt one stage I had an ego the size of Cardiff Arms Park, or the Principality Stadium, as we must now call it. I\u2019d go so far as to suggest that a huge ego is almost essential to succeed. It didn\u2019t really matter whether I was the best scrum-half in the world or not; the only way I\u2019d perform at my best was if I believed I was.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is more, much more, in Bishop\u2019s fascinating and absorbing new autobiography, written with the help of the seasoned journalist Brendan Gallagher. Let\u2019s just say it goes to places other rugby books never reach. Including Aylesbury prison where Bishop once spent 12 months behind bars for assault.<\/p>\n
Not forgetting the swollen River Taff where he once saved a mother and her baby from drowning. And the less salubrious parts of Cardiff where visiting fans never stray. \u201cI marched around looking for scraps and fights, an angry and often dysfunctional young man who was much too quick to resort to fists and violence,\u201d acknowledges Bishop. \u201cIt was the world I inhabited and that\u2019s how things were sorted. When I look back, the sad fact is I didn\u2019t grow up until I was nearly 40. It took me until then to become a fully formed, functioning adult.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Bishop playing for Pontypool against Cardiff in 1983. Photograph: Mike Brett\/Popperfoto\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
A physically abusive father and a swift temper were both contributory factors. \u201cThroughout my life, there was also a madness and a manic energy \u2013 a rage, almost \u2013 within me, which was definitely not normal and which I struggle to explain.\u201d The cider \u2013 \u201cor \u2018electric lemonade\u2019 as I know it\u201d \u2013 and the cocaine didn\u2019t help either. And neither did the infamous punch to the jaw of Newbridge\u2019s Chris Jarman on 23 October 1985 that effectively ended his international career after only one Test, against Australia in 1984.<\/p>\n
For a variety of reasons, explained in greater detail in the book, Bishop\u2019s punch assumed such notoriety that the incident attracted \u201cWho shot JR?\u201d levels of publicity. \u201cI could easily have shot three people dead in Westgate Street in broad daylight or blown up the Arms Park and got less coverage,\u201d reflects the perpetrator. He was initially sentenced to a month in jail only for the punishment to be suspended for a year on appeal. As far as his fledgling Wales union career was concerned, however, it was curtains.<\/p>\n
The majority view will be that Bishop, now 64, has only one person to blame for not having at least 50 caps and being remembered very differently. But better a sinner who repents and all that. And, in terms of articulating still-burning regret, Bishop\u2019s book is as honest a sporting memoir as any in recent years. \u201cThere\u2019s never a day when it doesn\u2019t hurt,\u201d he writes. \u201cBecoming the starting Wales and Lions scrum-half was my life mission \u2026 and my inability to process my failure to complete this mission played a big part in my descending into depression and cocaine addiction after retiring.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll never ever get over not having the Wales career I dreamed of; the career that should have been mine. The road not taken haunts me to this day. I thought it would get better with time, but it gets worse. I\u2019m hoping this book will help. The final reckoning, if you like, after which I can perhaps find some peace of mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week’s action reviewed<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Blimey. Told you it was a thought-provoking read. There will be young Welsh professionals who dismiss this cautionary tale on the basis it reflects an era so different it cannot conceivably apply to them. Which, given the diminished state of Welsh rugby at present, is technically true. But ultimately Bishop\u2019s book delivers a timely home truth for every gifted youngster: there is nothing worse in life than awaking one day and realising you\u2019ve wasted your talent. Instead of dissing The Bish, we should be thanking him for his searing candour.<\/p>\n The Bish: It\u2019s All About Me<\/a> is published by Y Lolfa<\/p>\n