RUGBY UNION
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IT'S been 45 years since Molong's last Wallaby pulled on the green and gold but the links between Bill Gunther and Australian No. 8 David Lyons can't be eroded by time.
With grandson Jack, Gunther will be watching Lyons and his Wallaby team-mates from the stands at Telstra Stadium tonight, cheering the Australian team towards World Cup glory against England.
Gunther, who was first named for Australia in 1957 and then went on a seven-month tour of Europe in 1958, admits he has a special admiration for Lyons, who also comes from Molong and is also a loose forward.
"We had a lot of tradition our club and I know most of his family, I've known them all since they were kids," Gunther said.
"He's really come good in the last few games and he's a big boy with a lot of talent. And he's still on the learning curve, in a couple of years time he'll probably be a better player."
Back in 1954, Gunther was the captain-coach of Molong's first rugby side which went on to win the Central West competition in its debut year.
Playing on the wing was one George Lyons, David's great uncle.
Apart from his representative football Gunther played all of his football in the country. Obviously things are very different now for the elite players.
"There's a lot of money in it, some things are better, some are worse but there's still a lot of passion there," Gunther said.
Although Gunther's Wallabies 'didn't do too well' on their tour to Europe, it was a career highlight and Gunther will relive some of the excitement tonight supporting Lyons.
"Oh gee yes, you get all ... it's still the same feeling, you get all worked up. It's terrific," he said.
And will the Wallabies win?
"If they play like they did against the All Blacks I think they can win for sure,'' Gunther said. "They're very hard to beat when the chips are down, our fellas."