Six Nations 2018: Samson Lee proud of travelling roots and ready to lead Wales - EXCLUSIVE
GETTY Wales star Samson Lee wants to attend a Carmarthenshire council planning hearing
Samson Lee wanted a day off Wales training to attend a Carmarthenshire council planning hearing. It was, Lee explained, important to him and his family, so Gatland replaced his eyebrows and agreed. The application, lodged late last year by Wales’ traveller prop, was for permission to put up six static caravans in Llangennech for his father, brothers and uncle. Raised in a caravan in West Wales surrounded by rough-and-tumble chaos, he had never quite got over his extended family’s decision to upgrade to bricks and mortar and go their separate ways when he was a teenager. He wanted to get the band back together. “I left the caravan when I was 14. My goal in rugby was to earn enough money to one day buy my own land and hopefully get my family back together,” said Lee, who has two young daughters of his own. “For me, it’s the best way of life and I want us to bring our children up as we got brought up. We don’t want to lose our traditions. “I want them to have an outdoor life. I don’t want them to be sat playing computer games all day.
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My goal in rugby was to earn enough money to one day buy my own land and hopefully get my family back together Wales star Samson Lee
“Living in a house just isn’t for me. It doesn’t feel like home. I never settled in. If you’d been brought up in a caravan you’d know. “I’ve had the planning permission through. We’ll start in the summer and be living back together next year. Happy days for the family.” Waking up in the plush surrounds of The Vale Resort when with Wales is all very well but it can still feel an alien world to the Scarlets strongman. “I live the normal life of any other traveller. Rugby is just my job,” he said. “I love anything outdoors. I’m not the kind of guy to sit inside all day. “I used to do a lot of ferreting but I’ve had to put a stop to all that. I needed more recovery time after my recent Achilles injury so I’ve parked that for a bit. Hopefully when I retire I’ll have another go at it. I’ve got into my fishing instead which is more relaxing. It’s an old man’s game!” Lee is only 25 but in international terms he is approaching maturity with 34 Wales caps to his name. He is proudly blazing a trail as a Test rugby traveller, representing not just his country but his heritage.
“I’ve got my cousins [he had 61 at the last count] into rugby now and they’re playing too. Everyone has a chance to make it in rugby and hopefully one day we see a few more doing so with a travelling background,” he said. “When I started at school in Bynea there weren’t many people from my background into rugby. The boys are brought up more with boxing. “I was doing kickboxing at the time but I didn’t really have the flexibility for it. My uncle, who’d never played rugby but always watched it, said to me that he thought I should go training. I tried it and never looked back. “Contact was never going to be a problem. It’s a physical sport and I enjoyed that. I know it sounds a bit strange but I enjoyed waking up the next morning with a few bumps and bruises and feeling a bit stiff. I knew then I’d done a good shift.” As a 10st 10-year-old, he made a significant impact as a tryscoring No8 but with a neck like his, he was always destined for the front row. “The collar size is 21 inches at the moment. My shirts are pretty much like dresses,” he said.
GETTY Wales boss Warren Gatland received a very unusual request