The first ever Rugby World Cup hat-trick for Wales
27 September 2019
World Cups can cement star names into legend but they also allow others to sparkle, such as a young Glen Webbe.
Now a 57-year-old director of a kitchen design company in Cardiff, back in 1987 he was about to make history and shine on the international stage as Wales lined up against Tonga in the Rugby World Cup.
Scoring the first ever Rugby World Cup hat-trick for Wales, the Bridgend wing etched his name into the history books and did so while concussed, something that would never be allowed to happen in today’s game.
After scoring two first half tries in the game played in Palmerston North, New Zealand, Glen was hit by a Tongan tackle but that didn’t stop him.
“I was dropping my shoulder, he was a little bit quicker than I anticipated and he came in with a loose head and he hit me right on that point there [pointing to his jaw] and bang, I just collapsed where I stood,” he recalled when speaking to commentator and former Wales captain Eddie Butler in Eddie Butler’s Rugby World Cup.
“The plan was to keep play away from me. We were attacking Tonga but the ball went spilling, they picked up, broke off of their 22, they put the ball up in the air and God, everybody tried to get out of the way of the ball.
“Then Mark Ring tried to mark it after three bounces and he managed to catch the ball with four Tongans around him and I think he said ‘Sod what the coaches said, Glen’s having it!’
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“I just sort of pinned my ears back and come inside one or two and outside another and underneath the stick for a practically length-of-the-field try,” he said, although thanks to that tackle, he doesn’t actually remember it.
“I have to admit, I don’t really remember it as a real memory,” he continued. “I haven’t lived it. I remember it through watching it but I haven’t actually lived it, it’s not a real memory but I’ve seen it and I’m proud of it.”
Eddie Butler’s Rugby World Cup is now available on 大象传媒iPlayer
