On October 22nd, 2021, East Terrace editor, James Stafford, releases ‘How Wales Beat the Mighty All Blacks‘. Illustrated by Carys Feehan and published in hardback by Y Lolfa (edited by Carolyn Hodges), the book tells the story of rugby immortal Gwyn Nicholls and his comeback to face the legendary 1905 All Blacks. While aimed at children, the book will appeal to rugby loves of all ages, with Feehan’s gorgeous artwork…
Illustrating Welsh rugby history – A discussion with the Welsh National Library and the People’s Collection Wales
In late February this year, East Terrace editor James Stafford and illustrator Raluca Moldovan released ‘An Illustrated History of Welsh Rugby: Fun, Facts and Stories from 140 Years of International Rugby’. As part of the book’s launch, Stafford featured in a webinar hosted by the National Library of Wales (Llyfrgell Genedlaethol), which you can watch here: Stafford was joined by Lloyd Roderick (Aberystwyth University) and Gruffydd Jones (People’s Collection Wales)…
Groin, foot and shoulder injuries rule out East Terrace editor from British & Irish Lions tour
With the British and Irish Lions ‘silly season’ having essential been underway in the media since the end of the 2019 World Cup, it now seems any injury to any British or Irish rugby players must be reported in context of the upcoming South African tour. An actual player’s realistic chances of making the tour do not seem to be a prime consideration when constructing a newspaper or website headline….
The East Terrace 2021 Six Nations Awards
With the 2021 Six Nations in the bag, there will no doubt be multiple ‘best of’ lists in various newspapers and on countless websites in the coming days. None of these matter. The East Terrace Six Nations Awards are the only ones that do. Read them now and know that they are beyond scrutiny and utterly correct. Foreshadowing of the Tournament Winner: Jacopo Trulla (Italy) v France Italian full-back Jacopo…
Shades of Red (Part II): A brief history of Wales playing with only fourteen men
Our recent piece looking at each occasion Wales benefited from playing against shorthanded opponents was quite a success. So we’ve decided to follow it with another stroll down a red mist tinged memory lane, this time taking a look at the fateful moments that saw Wales reduced to inferior numbers. In 745 Welsh Test matches since 1881, eight Welsh players have received their marching orders (compared to 12 opposing players). …
An Illustrated History of Welsh Rugby – OUT NOW
An Illustrated History of Welsh Rugby: Fun, Facts and Stories from 140 years of International Rugby from East Terrace editor James Stafford and illustrator Raluca Moldovan is out now from Polaris Publishing. Full of tales of fighting clergymen, poisoned arrows and deathbed confessionals, James Stafford’s An Illustrated History of Welsh Rugby takes a unique look at the games, the players, the legends and the myths behind Wales’s national game. Blending fun and facts with trivia and…
Shades of Red: A brief history of Wales playing only fourteen men
Wales’s 2021 Six Nations has begun in a somewhat bizarre fashion, with both their opening opponents getting reduced to fourteen men after red cards. This is the first time in Wales’s history they’ve benefited in consecutive matches from playing against a team permanently reduced to 14 men. In 745 Welsh Test matches since 1881, 12 players have been dismissed when facing Wales. Wales, in contrast, have seen eight players ordered…
Louis Rees-Zammit wins the Mike Pyke Nonchalant Try Scoring Award
Wales’s Louis Rees-Zammit is the latest player to win the Mike Pyke Nonchalant Try Scoring Award from The East Terrace. The youngster responded to a critical try for his country, his first ever in the Six Nations, by simply getting up and jogging back for the kick off. Have we mentioned this guy is 20? ? A ???????? finish in the corner from @LouisReesZammit ? ? ???????#GuinnessSixNations #WALvIRE pic.twitter.com/zoMwXdTBnQ —…
Shades of Gray – a look at the winning record of all international Welsh rugby coaches
Who are the most successful head coaches in Welsh international history, and why is Tony Gray’s record consistently misreported? There are few things so addictive to the sports fans as statistics. And there are few things so consistently misleading or open to flawed interpretation as statistics. But sports people love lists. A list detailing the success rate of head Welsh coaches is about as open to misuse as any set of…
East Terrace launches ‘The 1988 Range’ of rugby tshirts and other goodies
To celebrate the launch of ‘An Illustrated History of Welsh Rugby: Fun, Facts and Stories from 140 Years of International Rugby‘, The East Terrace is proud to launch ‘The 1988 Range‘. Inspired by the artwork of Raluca Moldovan, our Redbubble shop will sell a range of t-shirts and other items. Working on very special range of tshirts for @theeastterrace to coincide with launch of my Welsh #rugbyhistory book from @Polaris_Books….
Release date confirmed for ‘An Illustrated History of Welsh Rugby’ by James Stafford
‘An Illustrated History of Welsh Rugby: Fun, Facts and Stories from 140 years of International Rugby‘ from East Terrace editor James Stafford and illustrator Raluca Moldovan will be published on 11th February by Polaris Publishing. The book was extensively featured on the Welsh Rugby Union website recently and has already attracted a lot of interest on social media. Officially released on the 11th February, 2021, it is already available for…
A fresh viewpoint on rugby from a neglected East Terrace
The East Terrace is back. But for those that have come to revisit an old haunt, the view is going to be a bit different. When the original website was launched back in 2004, there was very little irreverent rugby writing on the interweb. What sprinkle of rugby humour that did litter the net tended to be of the tired ‘hookers’ and ‘odd shaped balls’ type. The East Terrace was a…
East Terrace editor to publish history of Welsh national rugby team
The founder and editor of The East Terrace, James Stafford, is set to publish his first rugby book. In February 2021, Polaris Publishers will release “An Illustrated History of Welsh Rugby: Fun Facts and Stories from 140 Years of International Rugby“. It will be the first in a series and followed by the history of the English national side. The book is packed with original illustrations by Raluca Moldovan. The…
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Chris Ashton wins disciplinary ‘Triple Crown’ award after biting ban
OIRGINALLY PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 2016. Saracens and England winger Chris Ashton has completed a spectacular career treble in an English premiership game against Northampton last weekend. Ashton’s citing and subsequent 13 week ban for biting now means the loveable show-boater has been banned for biting, gouging and hair pulling during his union career! In light of this stunning accomplishment – which is possibly unique in the annuals of not just rugby…
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Pro12 taken out the back and ‘put out of its misery’
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN AUGUST 2016. Officials from the Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Italian rugby unions have dramatically announced there will be no Pro12 league for the 2016/17 season. After a full twenty minutes of “passionate debate” and “soul searching”, tournament organisers agreed on Monday it was time to put the league to rest. At a hastily assembled press conference, league spokesperson Patrick Connor revealed the the much maligned league was…
East Terrace editor gets picked in second row for ‘Rugby’ – new prestige magazine
James Stafford, editor and founder of the The East Terrace, has penned a piece for Rugby – a new journal ‘capturing the spirit of the greatest game’. Stafford’s article looks at Nyrsko Rugby Club, a newly formed side in a small town in the Czech Republic. For anyone with an interest in quality sports writing, beautiful photography and content that goes beyond the banal cliches and platitudes of most rugby magazines, Rugby…
BBC rugby directors continue with avant-garde, replay heavy, Greengrass style camera work
We’ve written on the brilliance of BBC’s live rugby direction before. It was one of the most popular articles we’ve ever run. With a filming philosophy that blends Paul Greengrass, French Avant Garde and the freestyling attitude of a 90-year-old using an iPhone for the first time, BBC rugby directors can always be relied upon to give you an ‘immersive’ experience to endure. Fiercely committed to showing viewers at least 65%…
Observations on the Six Nations: Auntie just a little too much on the ball
UPDATE: (23/02/17) We contacted the BBC team for comment on this piece and provided a few questions for the broadcast team to try and get insight into the decision making process and reasoning behind the directing of the match broadcast feed. Sadly we were informed they were too busy ahead of the weekend’s rugby to get involved on this occasion. Until around the 1960s there was little doubt watching a…
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Wales release findings of New Zealand tour report
ORGINALLY PUBLISHED JULY 2016. After a grim summer tour to New Zealand, where Wales lost all four of its matches, the Welsh Rugby Union has released the findings of its post tour analysis report. Wales faced the All Blacks three times along with what was effectively a Chiefs ‘A/B’ team and lost by an aggregate score of 161-56. Speaking at a press conference where the report was released, Welsh coach…
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Wilkinson awarded Lifetime ‘Mike Pyke Nonchalant Try Scoring Award’
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED DECEMBER 2011: Long time readers of The East Terrace will remember the highly valued Mike Pyke Nonchalant Try Scoring Award. It is awarded to those players who refuse to go all vulgar and hysterical after grounding the ball for a five point score, and simply trot back to their allocated field position to receive the forthcoming kick off. For these noble warriors there are no vulgar acts of…