Surprising what you come across, completely by chance, but did you know that there has been a TV series based around the activities of a (fictional) women's rugby team, that it was a ratings hit - and ran for six series as well as spawning a stage play?Amazing but true - but chance are that you will not have caught up the activities of the Llan women's rugby team as the series has only been shown in Wales... and in Welsh!
Amdani (which roughly translates as "go for it") started out as a novel by Bethan Gwanas in 1997, and within a couple of years moved to TV where the series ran until only a couple of years ago, often appearing in Welsh TV's top 10 programmes.
Quite how much of the series featured rugby, how realistic it was, and how much strayed into other areas of drama, is difficult to say as nothing from the series seem to have found their way onto YouTube. However the newspaper reviews all seemed pretty positive.
And I wonder what effect the series had on the game in Wales? Were any players encouraged to take up the game as a result of seeing the series? Or did it scare people away? Does anyone know?
- I've just discovered a review with an extract from the book. What do you think?
"Menna's eyes were like on fire like coal. It was their put in, and they heeled neatly as ever, but when the scrum-half went for the ball, Menna moved like a cat with a rocket under its tail and floored her with a shout before she could get her pass away."
Hmm. That description doesn't sound anything like a rugby game. More like a fight. I only recognised it as rugby due to the word 'scrum half'. But I guess that's how the world out looks at rugby. Bethan Gwanas must be commended though for writing about a women's rugby team even if it were a fictional one.
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