Stack Stevens: Rugby Legend

'In many ways he was a player before his time. He could get around the field so well he would have thrived in the modern game. He was quiet but when he spoke everybody listened.' Gareth Edwards 'He was a great bloke who was so easy to get along with. He just gelled with everyone.' Bob Hiller 'He was one of God's honest forwards with a great attitude. The Saturday team was pretty well settled by the time he joined the 1971 Lions but if we had needed him for a test we wouldn't have hesitated for a second.' Willie John McBride 'The best tighthead prop I ever played with was Tony Horton. The best loosehead was Stack Stevens.' John Pullin 'All the Welsh boys on the 1971 tour took to him immediately - he knew his job too.' John Dawes 'He was the strong silent type who you could always rely on to do his job.' Chris Ralston 'He was an excellent technical prop who knew all the tricks. The crafty blighter used to try to overcharge me for his spuds though.' Keith Fairbrother 'He was strong, brave and technically very competent. It is never easy to join a tour halfway through but he was always fun and had a bit of mischief about him which immediately made him very popular.' Ian 'Mighty Mouse' McLauchlan 'He was already one of the old pros when I first played for England. Lovely guy - always with a smile on his face although he had a rather bony backside to scrum behind.' Roger Uttley 'He was a quiet bloke for much of the time but he used to come out with some priceless one-liners! You immediately recognised his upper body strength but the more you played with him the more you appreciated his contribution around the pitch as well.' Tony Neary "He was one of the very best technical props around who was always fun to be with. We had a lot of laughs together and became great mates - we played with and against each other loads of times and I never wanted to hit him!' Mike Burton 'The England team had been having quite a few problems in the scrum and we had taken quite a pasting down in Wales. When Stack came along it all seemed to get solved immediately.' John Spencer 'He was a rock-hard prop on the field but one of the very nicest guys off it - always a pleasure to be with.' Peter Rossborough 'When I was a seventeen-year-old kid starting to play for Cornwall Stack took me under his wing and let me know he would look after me. I will never forget that.' Kenny Plummer 'Often seemed so laid back and casual but when the time came to turn it on - watch out.' Terry Pryor 'He was both very strong and technically excellent. Most loosehead props in the UK I had found relatively easy to unsettle but Stack was different. Whether you went in at him high, low or at an angle he was still just as strong.' Tony Horton 'Some props used to like to show off but Stack was never a braggart. He always let his rugby do the talking.' Ray McLoughlin

A fascinating account of how a young farming boy from Cornwall went on to become an England and British Lions great.