And on Monday night JPR Williams joined the ranks.

He was one of those sporstpeople whose surname became superfluous. If you said JPR everyone knew who you were talking about.

Flamboyant, distinctive with his trade mark sideburns, like Franz Beckenbauer in football he also redefined his position of full back in his sport, rugby union.

His record is astonishing, both with Wales and the British & Irish Lions.

John Peter Rhys Williams: 2/3/1949 – 8 /1/2024. So it goes.

I’ve been watching this year’s edition of the Confederations Cup. Well I missed the first half of the first game and of today’s.

The games have been fairy enjoyable. Well, Russia-New Zealand was a bit of a mismatch and Russia fairly plodding. The results in the other ties have been about right. Mexico and Portugal seemed evenly matched and both Chile and Germany deserved their wins though Germany’s decision to go with a young squad might have backfired on them. (Actually, who am I kidding? They’re Germans.) Unusually it did provide the spectacle of a German goalkeeper who wasn’t on top of his game.

The main topic of conversation among the pundits though has been the supposed shortcomings of the video assistant referee system, VAR, being used at the competition. A welcome innovation I’d have thought.

It’s only a trial, though. There are bound to be teething problems.

So far when it has been employed it has got the decisions correct – as is intended. Those occasions were when the ball was dead after the referee’s original decision and there was therefore no interruption to the game, only a slight delay in restarting.

The possible penalty incident in the Russia-New Zealand game – which the ref didn’t opt to have reviewed – did not fall into that category. If he did receive advice that he “might want to look at the incident” (it actually wouldn’t be him – it would be the assistants) that would have been in the course of ongoing play. In effect that makes the video assistant the actual referee. And when does the referee then blow the whistle?

And what would have happened if he had so opted and on the subsequent video review the decision was “no penalty”? Would that not make a mockery of the review? And where would play restart?

Better to leave the referee to it and restrict any such interventions to times when the ball is dead.

Such reviews are all very well in the case of Rugby, League or Union, where stoppages can be relatively common. Football is a much more fluid game, not so amenable to interruption.

Two losses today. One is provisional but will most likely go through and that is the takeover of Cadbury by Kraft. This can only presage “restructuring” and job losses. Cadbury was one of the original good employers, renowned for treating its employees with consideration, actively looking out for their welfare. This arose from the Quaker traditions of the company’s founders. I can’t see much of that ethos surviving under Kraft.

Also, if the takeover is finalised can reformulation of Cadbury products using cheaper ingredients be far behind?

The other loss is irrevocable and struck me more personally. It is the death of Rugby Union commentator Bill McLaren. For many of my age he was – and remains – the voice of Rugby Union. His knowledge and enthusiasm for the game shone through every comment and his impartiality was impressive.

Rugby Union has never felt the same without him behind the microphone. I sometimes wondered how he felt about the modern professional era as, to me, it seems more soulless than in his commentating heyday.

Cadbury’s, 1824-2010.

William Pollock McLaren, 16/10/1923-19/1/2010.

So it goes.