Millennium Magic – my stadium highlights

RIP up the grass at the Millennium Stadium and replace it with a hybrid natural/artificial fibre surface, seems like a good idea – and a convenient prompt to pick the greatest matches played on that much maligned turf. a7a7a7;”>Embed from Getty Images

The iconic Cardiff city centre venue is now in its 15th action packed year and in that time human kind has moved on to accept a world-class playing surface won’t grow in a giant darkened fridge but science has been able to deliver an alternative.

Here I’ve picked what I consider to be the greatest moments from 15 years of sporting action on the 7,412 movable pallets of hallowed grass that make up the home of Welsh sport (or rugby at present).

Taking a chance with Glyn Mathias

YOU don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone or so it seems to go – which is why I was pleased to take the opportunity to interview former ITN and BBC Wales political editor and Brecon resident Glyn Mathias.

The veteran journalist, who has just published his autobiography, is one of quite a few high-profile characters to have lived in Brecon and the surrounding area. I wrote stories about the deaths of both Sir Bernard Ashley, widower of the fashion designer Laura, and Lord Tom Bingham, the former Lord Chief Justice and senior Law Lord, who lived at Boughrood near Brecon for some 40 years until his death.  On both occasion I regretted not writing about these people earlier, specifically before they died and were still within easy reach of my office.