00:00It's important to tell the story because it's a long overdue, because here is a person, Roy Francis, who was way ahead of his times, both in terms of what he brought to rugby as a coach, incredibly innovative as a coach, but also as a black man in the white world.
00:18He was probably unique in any walk of life in British society in the 1950s as being a black person in charge of white people, and those players who he coached and mentored thought of him as a father figure, who had inordinate respect for him.
00:36So it's a story that should have been told a lot earlier, and I think today it's absolutely the right time because of the way the world is changing and the recognition that we should give to pioneers like Roy Francis.
00:53I think it's important to Bryn Maw because, you know, he's a true son of Bryn Maw. He was born and raised here, and he was prominent as a schoolboy in the rugby team, and even though he left the town when he was 17 to go north to play for Wigan, Bryn Maw was always his home.
01:15His mother led here, and so it's important that the town carries on that legacy, and, you know, kind of respects the fact that they're the home to one of the great pioneers, not just a rugby history, but also a black British history as well.
01:33I think it's very important because one of the things that Roy taught his players, expected from his players, and created at all the clubs that he was at was respect.
01:46Respect for people regardless of what their background was, what colour of their skin was, what their occupation was.
01:52Everybody deserved respect and to be treated with respect, and Roy gave that to his players and they gave it back to him.
01:59And I think that's the crucial lesson for today, that everybody, regardless of who they are, where they are, what they are, should be treated with the respect that they deserve.
