Of all Emlyn's friendships, none left a deeper written record than the one with Basil Cottle, a fellow Welshman he had known "from way back," who went on, of all things, to break Enigma codes at Bletchley Park, and later became one of the University of Bristol's best-loved scholars.

In the summer of 1939, Emlyn, still in his twenties and asked to speak to a group of young sportsmen about faith and character, turned to his cleverest friend for help finding the words. Basil wrote back eight careful, self-deprecating pages, working through exactly what he thought sport was for, and what it owed a young man's character.

Fifteen years later, in February 1954, Basil wrote again, this time enclosing a cheque for £350, an outright gift, and refusing point-blank to hear any argument about it. He wanted Emlyn to use it as the deposit on a house.

Whatever Emlyn had done for his friend, years before, Basil never once stopped being grateful for it. It says as much about the kind of man Emlyn was as any rugby record ever could.