He took charge of the Welsh team for nine matches between 1988-1990 after the departure of Tony Gray. He resigned after his side suffered a record defeat, 34-6, at Twickenham in 199o, and was replaced by Ron Waldron.
Ryan, who became Wales’ sixth National Coach, learned his rugby at Newport High School and was a good enough back row forward to play for the Welsh Secondary Schools in 1959. He joined Newport from school and played for the club until 1962.
He also played for Nottingham University and the UAU while studying for his degree before joining London. While playing at Old Deer Park he also represented Middlesex County as he pursued his career as a customs and excise officer.
He took over as coach at Rodney Parade in the 1973-74 season and stayed for five campaigns. After leaving the Black & Ambers he joined their biggest rivals, Cardiff in 1979.
He was credited with bringing the good times back to Rodney Parade and famously plotted the club’s first win in the WRU Challenge Cup final against Cardiff in 1977 at the National Ground. That season they also won the Whitbread Merit Table title.
In his first season in charge his side won 26 and drew three of their 48 games, while in the centenary season in 1975-75, they notched 29 wins and four draws in 51 regular season matches.
The centenary celebrations included fixtures against a WRU President’s XV, the Barbarians and a World XV, as well as a 14-9 win over the touring Tongans. There was also a five-match unbeaten tour at the end of the campaign in the USA.
The win ratio rocketed in the 1975-76 season with 36 victories and a draw in 49 outings, although there was a 14-6 home defeat to the Wallabies.
The Cup winning campaign of 1967-77 improved to 34 wins and two draws in 42 matches. There was a return to the National Stadium in 1978, but no successful defence of their title as Newport fell to a 13-6 defeat to Swansea at the end of a season that featured 29 wins and 16 defeats.
“A true rugby man, ‘Buck’ as he was affectionally known in the rugby world, will be sadly missed. As we as coaching Newport and Cardiff, he also coached the Wales Sevens and the Wales senior side,” said Newport RFC president, Brian Jones.
Ryan switched to Cardiff in 1979 and helped the Blue & Blacks to win five of their seven games in a pre-season tour to South Africa. They then went on to score a record 1,090 in a season that included 32 wins and a draw in their 46 regular season fixtures.
The 1980-81 season saw Cardiff entertain the All Blacks, going down to a 16-9 defeat, and their 32 wins over the season included a 14-6 triumph against Swansea in the WRU Challenge Cup final, making Ryan the first coach to win the cup with two different clubs.
He stood down for personal reasons before the 1981-82 season, but was brought back by Wales to coach the U20 and U21 international sides. Then, in the wake of the heavy defeat suffered by Wales on their tour to New Zealand at the end of their Triple Crown campaign in 1988, he took over from Tony Gray as National Coach in July that year.
On his appointment he said “I like to keep a low profile” but saw a number of leading players opt to turn professional with rugby league. Adrian Hadley was the first, then Jonathan Davies.
On his approach, he said: “I think basics are very important. Also, fitness, commitment and team spirit. There’s no easy way to success — just hard work and dedication. My approach will be the same as it’s always been. My way will be to ensure the players set higher standards for themselves and the team. I’ll have to see they reach those standards and push them a bit further. There isn’t one consistent approach. Variation is the key.”
He brought former Wales captain Jeff Squire and Stan Addicott into the fold with him as assistant coaches and appointed Jonathan Davies as captain. His first game in charge was against Western Samoa in Cardiff on 12 November, 1988 and Wales won 24-6.
His second game in charge saw Wales plummet to an ignominious 15-9 defeat to Romania. A home win over England in the final round of the 1989 Five Nations Championship saved Wales from a first whitewash in the tournament, a Mike Hall try and the boot of Paul Thorburn allowing Wales to win 12-9.
It was a tough time for Welsh rugby. The report on the New Zealand didn’t make for good reading, Secretary Ray Williams stood down for personal reasons and there were only 40,000 fans combined at the games against Western Samoa and Romania.
The autumn clash with the All Blacks in 1989 turned out as another crushing win over the tourists, 34-9, and the 1990 Five Nations opened with a 29-19 home defeat. When Wales then fell to that record defeat at Twickenham in round two, Ryan had had enough.
A few days after the Twickenham debacle, he handed in his letter of resignation to WRU secretary Dennis Evans and a few hours later Ron Waldron was appointed to replace him. Ryan had been in the job for nine games and only 19 months, while Waldron lasted 10 games before he stepped down on health grounds after a disastrous tour to Australia in the summer of 1991.
Despite standing down as National Coach, Ryan didn’t walk away from the game he loved. He stood as a National Representative on the WRU Genral Committee and worked very hard to improve the structures that supported the National team and its coach in the future.
The Welsh Rugby Union passes on sincere condolences to the family and friends of John Ryan, who died this week.
