Cardiff: Glory and shame forever linked

Angel Hotel's history goes back to 1699 and Cardiff Arms Park was named after the original Cardiff Arms Inn. Photo / Supplied

Amid highs and lows, this angel was faithful to the All Blacks, writes David Leggat.

Across the road from Wales' giant red rugby theatre of dreams stands a hotel which will always have a link with New Zealand rugby.

What grandeur it had at one time may be rather faded these days, but no visit to Cardiff would be complete for a New Zealand sports fan without a pilgrimage to The Angel Hotel.

For years it was the rugby hotel in a rugby-mad city in the only major test-playing nation - other than New Zealand - where rugby is the national sport.

Visiting teams and their hosts stayed there. It was the place to get into for the after-match festivities.

But in New Zealand minds, it will forever be the place from where Keith Murdoch was dispatched into rugby ignominy.

A brief recap. The All Blacks had beaten Wales 19-16 on December 2, 1972, the first test of their long tour of Britain, Ireland and France. Celebrations at the Angel went long into the night.

There are a range of versions of what happened at a late hour. Suffice to say Murdoch, an immensely powerful prop forward and a man possessed of a short fuse, punched a security guard.

Two days later he was on his way to Heathrow airport, sent home in disgrace by the team manager Ernie Todd. Murdoch never reached Auckland. When the plane stopped at Singapore en route, Murdoch nipped out a side entrance and disappeared.

Some years later he was found living a quiet life in the Australian outback. He's made trips home since then, but has always managed to stay under the radar. And so the legend was made.

The Angel Hotel is in the heart of the city, across the road from the entrance to Cardiff Castle and the Millennium Stadium, the dominant features of the city.

In the old days, the players would leave the Arms Park - the fabled forerunner to the Millennium Stadium - and walk across the road to the Angel.

Getting a ticket to have a drink in the hotel post-test matches was difficult, unless you were a guest. Even then, 20 years ago, you were allowed a maximum of six per guest. They were handed out by an elderly porter, who had a zealous approach to his job of keeping order at the front entrance. No ticket, no entry, no right of appeal.

Crowds would gather hoping to squeeze into one of the function rooms, from which at a later hour would emerge marvellous, rich harmonies from the male choirs who had made the annual trip into Cardiff from towns and villages.

Close your eyes and these gnarled men clutching their pints of warm Brains beer could make the heart soar.

There is a signpost outside pointing to the key places in the city, including 'Parc yr Arfau', or the Arms Park, the famous ground which preceded the spectacular Millennium Stadium.

The three-storey hotel needs a touch up. A coat of paint wouldn't go amiss and parts of the white-washed facade are crumbling.

Inside, it looks much as it did years ago, two skinny lifts either side of the entrance with a large chandelier hovering above a grand staircase which branched left and right as it rises.

It was originally the Angel Inn, on its present site in 1666, before becoming the Cardiff Arms Hotel. The ground took its name from the hotel, which was pulled down in the 1880s and rebuilt.

It could do with some refurbishment now too, but its place in New Zealand's sporting history is secure, if not for the most joyous of reasons.

CHECKLIST

Getting there: Air New Zealand's Pacific economy airfares from Auckland to London are from $3056 per person return.

Getting around: For information about travelling by train see britrail.com.

Further information: See visitcardiff.com or visitbritain.co.nz.

David Leggat visited Cardiff with help from Air New Zealand and Visit Britain.