Wales centre Jamie Roberts has been immortalised in a pastry mosaic by Bedwas food firm Peter’s Pies.
The stunt, coming ahead of Wales’ first Six Nations match on Sunday against Ireland, follows a survey to find fans’ tastiest rugby player.
Mike Phillips came second, followed by Wales’ youngest player, George North. But it was Roberts who topped the survey – polling nearly a third of the votes.
Created by full time ‘food artist’, Prudence Staite, the pastry tribute is more than 1.2 metres high and 1.2 metres wide, and uses a variety of Peter’s savoury treats as well as peppercorns for Jamie’s famous designer stubble, and red chilli flakes and peppers for his Wales jersey.
The mosaic weighs almost 35kg and took a team of five 50 hours to make from start to finish.
It was presented to WRU Group Sponsorship manager Simon Rowe at the Millennium Stadium by Peter’s Marketing Controller Clare Morgan and Prudence, who carefully brought the mosaic all the way from Gloucester.
Rugby fans looking for a bite of the action will be able to see the extraordinary mosaic themselves, as it will be displayed alongside the Peter’s Pie Mobile at the Wales V Scotland game on February 12.
Peter’s Marketing Controller Clare Morgan said: “It’s that time of year again when Wales goes rugby mad, and we thought it would be fun to find the country’s tastiest player. The likeness of the mosaic is truly astounding, and we are delighted that fans will be able to see it for themselves at the Wales vs Scotland game. We hope it will herald the start of a tasty tournament for Jamie and the rest of the Wales team.”
Speaking from the Wales training camp about the honour of winning the ‘tastiest player’ accolade, Jamie Roberts said: “I’m flattered, I’ve never had a portrait of me made out of food before; this is certainly a first.
“When I showed it to some of the other Welsh players it brought a few smiles and, as you can imagine, a few jokes that’s for sure. This was a really cool idea and it looks like a lot of time and effort went into making it – and I must admit, it looks just like me.”