Des Barnett, who served the Mid District for 20 years as their WRU member before becoming President of the union in 1986, has died at the age of 91.
Born in Treherbert in 1933, he was a long-serving member of the WRU coaching committee and became the youngest president of the union at the age of 52 in 1986.
His year in charge saw him witness two massive moments in the history of the game in Wales with the playing of the first women’s international at Pontypool Park and the launch of the men’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
After watching Liza Burgess lead the Wales Women’s side against England, he was full of praise for the efforts they had put in to arrange and pay for the fixture.
Asked about future WRU backing for the women’s team he said: “To date the girls have relied on their great enthusiasm but we at the WRU would be prepared to listen to any approach they might make. Bearing in mind their great efforts and the success of the international, I’m sure they would get a positive reaction.”
It may have taken a while, but women’s rugby is now fully incorporated into the WRU, and a full-time professional squad of players is preparing for this year’s World Cup in England.
He succeeded Carey Powell as a WRU member for District C at the start of the 1965-66 season, joining Bargoed’s Glyn Morgan as the Mid District representatives. Glyn’s first piece of advice to his new colleague was ‘don’t ask a question for at least two years’.
By the time Des found his voice he was able to make major contributions to the game in Wales, especially through his long-standing service on the coaching sub-committee. He was also a member of the general committee during the union’s centenary season of 1980-81 and helped with the organisation of the centenary dinner held at the City Hall in Cardiff.
At the end of the teachers strike in the eighties he pushed for the leading players in Wales to be used to provide coaching clinics to re-engage those youngsters who had become disillusioned and disengaged with the national sport.
“The crux of the matter is that we must make rugby an attractive proposition. All young lads have idols and if we can persuade our top stars to give up an occasional afternoon and just turn up at various local schools would give game a great fillip at grass roots level,” Barnett told a WRU coaching conference in Cardiff.
“This is a system they started in New Zealand. Top All Blacks would go to their local schools with qualified coaches and put the lads through their paces during the games’ afternoon. The national team also got together and produced a number of training videos aimed specifically at the young schoolboy player.
“Imagine the thrill for a young Intermediate group player from Neath or Cardiff if Jonathan Davies or Mark Ring helped out.
“Of course, the biggest tonic would be a successful national side, and I am very hopeful that Wales this year are going to play an expansive brand of running, winning rugby. When we had those marvelous sides in the ’70s it was the ambition of every youngster to play rugby for Wales.”
When he took over as president, he made a plea to “keep politics out of sport”. However, he urged everyone to “remain sensitive to the opinions and needs of others” and proclaimed the WRU was “dedicated to eliminating all forms of racialism and establishing racial and equal opportunity in rugby.”
He later became involved in the special committee set-up to investigate the involvement of Welsh players and officials in the South African Rugby Board centenary celebrations in 1989, working alongside future WRU and IRB chairman Vernon Pugh
He travelled with the Wales squad to the New South Wales Sevens in Sydney in 1986 and then accompanied the World Cup squad in 1987. Addressing the 1986 WRU Coaching Conference ahead of the World Cup he made no apologies for setting high goals for Tony Gray’s side at the tournament.
“I have been criticised for being over-optimistic about Welsh chances in the World Cup. But you don’t get anything for aiming to be a semi-finalist – you have to aim to win the final,” he told delegates.
“Tom McNab, who is fitness coach to the England squad for the World Cup, said in his conference dinner address that rugby people should be viewing the World Cup as our sport’s Olympics.
“And because it will fall only every four years the national coach should expect the full co-operation of clubs and club coaches who provide our international players. It needs to be approached as if they are Olympic athletes.
“You have to aim to be No 1, there is no silver medal in the rugby World Cup, just a winner. I am confident that if we get everything together and adhere to Tony Gray’s scheme Wales can do it.”
In the end, Gray led Wales to their best ever finish of third after losing out to the winners New Zealand in the semi-final and beating Australia in the third-place play-off match.
A regular visitor to Principality Stadium to Watch Wales play right up until his death on Monday 9 June, he was also president of the Rhondda Mid Week Cricket League and served as chairman of the Rhondda Schools Initiative at its inception and also sat on the Pontypridd RFC sponsorship and marketing committee.
The WRU offers sincere condolences to Elaine, Des’ wife of nearly 60 years, their two daughters, and his other family members and friends.