Brilliant rugby fly-half for Wales and the Lions who went on to have a successful television and radio career
Cliff Morgan was one of the leading figures of British rugby in the postwar years, a fly-half for Wales and the Lions with a flair and an inventiveness that made him the embodiment of his nation's gift to a game whose finest values, on and off the field, he came to incarnate. After his playing career was over, later generations would become familiar with Morgan, who has died aged 83 after a long illness, as a broadcaster; his hour-long Saturday morning show on Radio 4 ran for 21 years and provided a reliably entertaining and erudite preface to the weekend's action.
Loved by his contemporaries, venerated by his successors, he was a man of the word as well as the deed. Like so many Welshmen growing up with chapel sermons in their ears, he revelled in the sonorous phrase. But it was the simplicity of his response to Gareth Edwards's magnificent try for the Barbarians in the opening minutes of their match against the All Blacks at Cardiff Arms Park in 1973 – widely held to be the greatest of all time – that put him among the immortals of sports broadcasting.
It took just under 90 seconds to describe, beginning with a Barbarians lineout inside their opponents' half: "John Pullin, England's captain, the hooker … McBride trying to get … Wilkinson … Going … Williams again … everyone with him … Sid Going … good tackle by Slattery of Ireland … almost on the half-way line … Kirkpatrick, to Williams … this is great stuff … Phil Bennett covering, chased by Alistair Scown … brilliant … oh, that's brilliant … John Williams, Bryan Williams … Pullin … John Dawes, great dummy … David, Tom David, the halfway line … brilliant by Quinnell … this is Gareth Edwards … a dramatic start … What a score!"
The son of a miner, Morgan was born in Trebanog, in the Rhondda valley, and educated at Tonyrefail grammar school in an era when rugby was part of the informal curriculum of Welsh secondary education. He joined Cardiff rugby club in 1949, straight from school, 5ft 7in of almost fully formed brilliance. His first Welsh cap came in 1951, against Ireland, in direct confrontation with the great Jack Kyle.
The following year, he was a member of Wales's grand slam-winning side, and in 1955 he was selected for his first British Lions tour, acting as the creative mainspring of a team which confronted the powerful South Africa. His try at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, secured a famous 23-22 victory in the first Test in front of a world-record crowd of almost 100,000. He replaced the injured Robin Thompson as captain for the third match, which was also won, but an injury of his own hampered his subsequent performances and the series was drawn 2-2, making Morgan's team the first to avoid a series defeat against the Springboks.
The following year he was made captain of Wales, for whom he went on to win 29 caps. A slight, dark figure with beautiful balance, elusive movement and fine hands, he took his place among the products of his country's famous fly-half factory, which would later turn out Barry John and Phil Bennett, for whom his play provided a template. His last appearance in a first-class rugby match came in the Barbarians' colours in 1958, against East Africa in Nairobi.
On his retirement from the game he was approached by BBC Wales to become organiser of their sports programmes, the beginning of a relationship with the corporation that would span four decades. A man of keen all-round intelligence, he moved away from sport for two years to become the editor of This Week, ITV's current affairs programme, from 1964 until 1966, but returned to the BBC to take charge of such programmes as Grandstand and the midweek Sportsnight With [David] Coleman. In 1970 he and Henry Cooper became the team captains in the first series of A Question of Sport, a programme now in its fifth decade.
In 1974 he was appointed head of outside broadcasting for BBC Radio. Two years later he moved back to BBC Television in a similar capacity, supervising the coverage of royal weddings as well as the Olympic and Commonwealth Games, the World Cup and other major sporting events.
His turn at the microphone for Edwards's great try had come only as a result of the designated commentator, Bill McLaren, falling ill. On retirement in 1987 he continued to present Sport on Four, which he had started 10 years earlier, interviewing the stars of all sports with a characteristic warmth, enthusiasm and generosity of spirit. He was a man of smiles, laughter and trust; the cynicism infesting sports people and broadcasters of later generations was unknown to him. Many devoted listeners were displeased when, in 1998, his Saturday slot was usurped by John Peel's Home Truths.
His other radio series included My Heroes and Down the River. In 1996, with the assistance of the Observer journalist Geoffrey Nicholson, he wrote an autobiography titled Cliff Morgan: Beyond the Fields of Play. He was one of the first to be inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 1997, and joined the IRB Hall of Fame in 2009. He was appointed OBE in 1977 and CVO in 1986 for his services to broadcasting.
At the age of 41, he survived a stroke. In later years, while living in retirement on the Isle of Wight, he suffered cancer of the vocal cords; the removal of his larynx reduced his ability to speak, a cruel misfortune for a man of such conviviality and eloquence, who had loved to sing while playing the piano.
His first wife, Nuala, died in 1999. He is survived by his second wife, Pat, whom he married in 2001, and a son and daughter from his first marriage.
• Clifford Isaac Morgan, rugby player, broadcaster and television executive, born 7 April 1930; died 29 August 2013