A HUNDRED people crammed into a room at the Coldra's Holiday Inn last week to listen to Wales coach Mike Ruddock.

He was the guest of Newport Business Club, the first speaker since the club relaunched itself with new sponsors and a new committee.

As a player Mr Ruddock was destined for great things until an industrial injury capped his career in the wrong sort of way.

But you can't keep a good man down and he became a successful coach. Now boasting 20 years' experience, Mr Ruddock has plenty of raw material to draw on.

He began by reflecting on his season with Newport Gwent Dragons "a team named after my mother-in-law."

He said that in Olympic year, coming third in the Celtic League and being unbeaten at home was a bronze medal finish of which he was very proud. "Not bad for a team described as a bunch of rejects."

He said that when he arrived all he had to offer was BHW and some people thought this was a performance-enhancing drug.

"What it actually stood for was bloody hard work."

He said the Dragons' success was down to the efforts of everyone in the team, stars and journeymen alike.

"Look at prop Adam Black. That man doesn't know the meaning of fear, he doesn't know the meaning of 10,000 other words either. When Adam was once asked if he would like scampi he replied that he hadn't come to watch a Walt Disney movie."

He also praised Ian Gough. "He's a tough guy because he had a tough childhood. His parents bought all his clothes at the ex-army and navy stores. He had to go to school dressed as a Japanese Admiral - that's what made him so tough."

Mr Ruddock also had fond memories of full back Percy Montgomery. "He was so like James Bond we bought him a Bond-style gadget watch.

"He tried it out in a club after our match in Dublin. Pointing it at a young woman he said: 'This watch tells me you're not wearing any underwear.'

She objected, claiming that everything was in place. 'Oh, my mistake,' said Monty, 'it's running five minutes fast.'"

Last season with the Dragons was one of Mr Ruddock's top three years in rugby. The first one was his first year coaching Swansea when the team won the Welsh league in 1991, the final match being played at Newport.

The other one was coaching Leinster in 1997/98 when the team beat English giants Leicester and won the Inter-Provincial Championship.

At the Dragons Mr Ruddock said it was like starting a business from scratch.

"We had a budget and we had to get the players who fitted that budget and fitted the team I wanted to build."

Speaking before last Friday's match against the Scarlets, he said: "I'll be at Rodney Parade for the match and pull me down if I jump out of my seat when the Dragons score, I'm supposed to be neutral now."

To inspire the Welsh squad Mr Ruddock has been looking back into Welsh history and appropriately enough he was speaking on Owain Glyndwr day.

"He was a former lawyer and a fine warrior who earned his reputation as a young man fighting for the English army.

"He only led Wales against England when it was made clear to him that a Welshman's rights would not be respected by an English court.

"From 1400 to 1415 he used speed and agility to defeat the power of England's armies and I'll be talking to my players about this in February. "

Mr Ruddock was greatly impressed with Sir Clive Woodward's study of player motivation.

He cited his distinction of players as either "energisers or sappers." He compared it to a workforce and the need to have people onboard who lift an organisation rather than paralyse it by moaning.

Wales' recipe for success, he said, would be built on the acronym FAST - F being for fitness, A for attitude, S for skills and T for teamwork.

It sounded good to the members of Newport Business Club who left the hotel walking on air.