I didn’t intend following that, I have to say, but as one who preaches on a Sunday in non-conformist chapels, I was also going to pay tribute to William Williams Pantycelyn from Llandovery in Carmarthenshire. One of our main hymn writers, he was born 300 years ago to this coming Saturday. One of the leaders of the Methodist revival in Wales, he wrote some 820 Welsh hymns when the vast majority of the population were monolingually Welsh speaking, and some 120 English hymns: ‘Bread of Heaven’ or ‘Cwm Rhondda’ being among the most popular. Of course, that will be cried out in the Principality Stadium on Saturday.

A whole host of wonderful poetry exists within his Welsh hymns, such as,

Iesu, Iesu, ‘rwyt ti’n ddigon, / ‘Rwyt ti’n llawer mwy na’r byd’.

We will have all learnt that in Sunday school. And another:

Pererin wyf mewn anial dir,/ Yn crwydro yma a thraw’.

And the wonderful, when you are concerned about something or feeling a little depressed:

Mi dafla’ ‘maich oddi ar fy ngwar / Wrth deimlo dwyfol loes; / Euogrwydd fel mynyddoedd byd / Dry’n ganu wrth dy groes’.

So, this Saturday, whilst we sing out ‘Hen Wlad fy Nhadau’, ‘Calon Lân’ and, yes, ‘Bread of Heaven’, as we drive our rugby heroes forward to a deserved victory over visitors from the other side of Offa’s dyke, do recall the anniversary of William Williams Pantycelyn.