RGC backing Stoptober

Internationalrugby backat Parc Eirias

4000 miles

for YogiFund

Please see below the rules and expectations of Clubs participating in the NorthWales 2nd XV league and North East Counties League 2014-15

a. The rules of the North Wales 2nd XV league are, where relevant, to mirror those of the WRU National Leagues.b. In the case where the numbers of players on the two teams are unequal, it is an expectation that i. the team with the higher number of players should offer some of their players to the opposition in order to make the two sides equal in number ii. if i. above is not possible, the game should begin with equal numbers e.g. if one team has 19 players and the other has 12, the game starts as a 12 v 12 game iii. in instances such as described in ii. above, the team with 19 will be allowed to use seven substitutes iv. the minimum number of players per team is tenc. All Clubs should attempt to follow the expectations above and, thus, negate the possibility of calling off games.

PERMITS ARE AVAILABLE RIGHT UP UNTIL KICK-OFF TIMEA permit must be sought for each match in which a player plays and such permitmay be granted for a match at any time in the season. Any permit issued mustbe made in writing (via fax, posted letter or email), by both the Club with whichthe player is registered, and the Club with which he is to play on permit andlodged with the Union before the match takes place.

In exceptional circumstances, where a permit is agreed during WRU officeclosure hours (e.g. a Saturday), the permit may be lodged by telephoning 02920822407 or 02920 822404 and leaving a voicemail message. The written confir-mation must be sent to the Union as soon as possible after lodging the voice-mail message.

Tegid Phillips, NWRUC Secretary

‘We would urge all clubs tomake every effort to fulfiltheir fixtures in the secondteam leagues. We have putrules in to place which willhopefully lessen the amountof postponements. All clubsare asked to ensure that theircoaches and captains areaware of the rules’

GeraldDaviesgivesemotionalspeechatNWRUCAGM

@ovalzonerugby

GaryEmail: gwcymru1@aol.comTelephone: 07713 514 375

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RGC achievetheir ‘A’ licenceRGC achieve their A licencealong with Pontypool andSwanseaAll 12 Principality Premiership clubs havemaintained their A licence along with Pon-typool, RGC 1404 and Swansea

RGC achieve their A licence along withPontypool and Swansea

All 12 Principality Premiership clubs com-peting in the 2014/15 season have main-tained their Premiership A Licence statuswhich means they are eligible to competein the 2015/16 competition.

In addition, SWALEC Championship clubsPontypool, RGC 1404 and Swansea haveachieved the Premiership A Licence whichmeans that should any of those clubs winthe SWALEC Championship this season,they will be automatically promoted withthe bottom placed Principality Premiershipclub relegated to the Championship.

WRU Group Chief Executive Roger Lewissaid, “The Principality Premiership is afantastic competition where almost all ofour international players cut their teeth insenior rugby. Standards have clearly risenon the field with teams working hard inconjunction with the Welsh Rugby Unioncompliance department to meet on fieldtargets and narrow the gap between semi-professional and professional rugby andcreate an environment fit for producingfuture Wales players.

Principality Premiership clubs, in conjunc-tion with the Welsh Rugby Union, are con-stantly driving up standards to make theirclubs welcoming and professional matchvenues for players, coaches, match of-ficials and supporters. We are running theRugby Enterprise Academy for the secondsuccessive season, placing University stu-dents with A licence clubs in order to sup-port them with their commercial, marketingand communications operations.”

“It was fantastic to help launch the tenthseason of the Principality Premiership atSardis Road last week, and judging by theexcitement generated by the Round Onefixtures alone, along with the start of theSWALEC Championship, we are in for athrilling season.”

Clubs awarded A Licence status:Aberavon; Bedwas; Bridgend; Cardiff;Carmarthen Quins; Cross Keys; Ebbwvale; Llandovery; Llanelli; Neath; Newport;Pontypridd; Pontypool; RGC 1404;Swansea

The above report from the WRU.

RGCNEWS

The entire Rygbi Gogledd Cymru(RGC1404) squad are backing the Stop-tober campaign by wearing campaignt-shirts for training and as they warm upfor their game against Tondu, Bridgend atEirias park next Saturday - 27 September.

Smokers who come to watch the matchwill also be encouraged to join the thou-sands who kick the habit into touch for themonth of October.

Rupert Moon is the North Wales Develop-ment Region’s General Manager; “As ateam we are really pleased to be backingthis campaign. Smoking is responsible forso many premature deaths and ill-healthin Wales. We are a smoke free squad andare committed to encouraging youngstersnot to start. We hope that smokers will joinStoptober and get help to quit.”

Kelvin Davies is the team captain, “Wetry our best to be a healthy club, we arerole models and need to be setting a goodexample to aspiring young rugby players– Stoptober is a great idea.”

The teams hooker Andrew Baston willbe encouraging his family and friends toquit” I’m going to persuade my family andfriends to take part and be smoke freethrough October”

The entire Rygbi Gogledd Cymru (RGC) squad arebacking the Stoptober campaign.

Andrew Jones is the Executive Director ofPublic Health for Betsi Cadwaladr Univer-sity Health Board, “We are really pleasedthat RGC1404 are helping us to promotethis really important campaign. Sport andsmoking don’t mix and our partners insport can help us spread the word.

“We know that stopping smoking is oneof the hardest things many people will doand we want to make sure that they getthe support they need as those that getspecialist smoking cessation support arefour times more likely to be successful.”

Stoptober provides a range of daily mo-tivational support during the twenty eightdays of the challenge. You can choosebetween: a Stoptober Pack, email support,Stoptober App or Text support. In additionthere is specialist smoking cessation sup-port available from Stop Smoking Walesand your local Pharmacy.

Sign up to Stoptober between 9th and28th September ready to start your quitchallenge on 1st October. All the supportyou need and details on how to sign up toStoptober can be accessed by going to:

www.stopsmokingwales.com or calling0800 085 2219

RGCNEWS

Rygbi Gogledd Cymru (RGC)community gathers to sup-port Terry Bennett as heembarks on his 4K for Yogi.Report by ‘Charity Today’.Terry Bennett embarks on 4000 mile fund-raiser for The Yogi Foundation

On the 6th September 2014 Terry Bennettembarked on his 4K for Yogi Challenge.Following the RGC 1404, based in EiriasPark in Colwyn Bay, for the Swalec / WRUChampionship fixtures 2014 – 2015.

Riding over 4,000 miles on his TriumphTiger Explorer motorbike Terry will beraising money for The Yogi Foundation.Inspired by Bryan ‘Yogi’ Davies, The YogiFoundation provides support and fund-

ing to people with a spinal cord injuryand their families to enable them to takea family holiday, which can be prohibitivefor individuals who have suffered a spinalcord injury.

Terry pledges to ride every mile for Yogiand the money Terry raises will go towardsmaking memories and delivering dreams.

The challenge started on the 6th Septem-ber 2014 with the RGC 1404 away matchat Blackwood, with the first home matchfor RGC 1404 taking place almost a yearto the day of Yogi’s funeral – an emotionalhome launch of Terry’s challenge whichwill conclude on the 18th April 2015 withthe final away match at Merthyr, followedby the final home match on the 25th April2015

Terry,Bennett from Cefn Meiriadog, hasbeen living with back problems for most ofhis life, and didn’t think he’d ever be ableto do this ride for Yogi. After playing rugbyfrom a young age, and having sufferedback problems from the age of 25, Terryfinds riding his motorbike difficult some-times, but that’s not stopping him.

Terry said “I know it sounds easy to ride amotorbike to 13 away matches, but for meit’s really going to be very difficult. I havesevere back problems, and I’m not asyoung or as fit as I used to be, but I wantto do this for Yogi and to support The YogiFoundation, and nothing is stopping me!”

Despite Terry’s positive attitude, there arestill concerns as Terry’s journey will takehim on many dangerous roads, and willtake place during the forthcoming wintermonths.

Sue Davies, Yogi’s wife said “It’s such agreat challenge that Terry is undertakingand I want to pass on my thanks and bestwishes to him, Yogi would have been soproud”.

Shaun Turner from the Yogi Foundationsaid “We will be eagerly following Terry’sjourney over the four thousand miles andwish him all the very best for his 4K forYogi Challenge. It really is amazing thathe has committed to doing this and canbe sure that every penny raised will be sovaluable to the charity.”

The Yogi Foundation has always seenmassive support from the rugby commu-nity and hopes that both home and awayteams will support Terry as he rides acrossWales on his 4K for Yogi Challenge.

If you wish to donate you can sendcheques or money to Yogi FundraisingOffice, 6 North Road, Buxton, Derbyshire,SK17 7EA. Please write 4K for Yogi on theback of any cheques.

You can follow Terry’s journey on Twitter@YogiFoundation and on Facebook. Orshow your support for Terry when he ar-rives at each and every away match with amassive wave and a cheer and of coursea donation if you can.

To learn more about The Yogi Foundation,and how the Welsh Rugby community hasalready supported the charity please callBeverley Cooke on 07525 717 103, oremail b.cooke@nice-marketing.com

Picture kindly supplied by Alan Skeates.

FANCY A TRIP TONARBERTH ON OCT 4TH?The RGC Supporters Clubare running a bus (leaving

Eirias at 8.30am)

Please ring Phil Williams on07773979910 to book yourseat or for further details.

06/09/2014Cardiff Met v SwanseaBargoed v PontypoolGlynneath v Tata SteelLlanharan v MerthyrNarberth v Bridgend AthTondu v NewbridgeBlackwood v RGC 1404

13/09/2014RGC 1404 v BargoedTata Steel v Cardiff MetPontypool v LlanharanBridgend Ath v GlynneathMerthyr v TonduNewbridge v NarberthSwansea v Blackwood

20/09/2014Llanharan v RGC 1404Swansea v Tata SteelCardiff Met v Bridgend AthTondu v PontypoolGlynneath v NewbridgeNarberth v MerthyrBlackwood v Bargoed

27/09/2014RGC 1404 v TonduBridgend Ath v SwanseaBargoed v LlanharanNewbridge v Cardiff MetPontypool v NarberthMerthyr v GlynneathTata Steel v Blackwood

04/10/2014Narberth v RGC 1404Swansea v NewbridgeTondu v BargoedTata Steel v Bridgend AthCardiff Met v MerthyrGlynneath v PontypoolBlackwood v Llanharan

11/10/2014RGC 1404 v GlynneathMerthyr v SwanseaBargoed v NarberthNewbridge v Tata SteelLlanharan v TonduPontypool v Cardiff MetBridgend Ath v Blackwood

18/10/2014Cardiff Met v RGC 1404Swansea v PontypoolTata Steel v MerthyrNarberth v LlanharanBridgend Ath v NewbridgeGlynneath v BargoedBlackwood v Tondu

25/10/2014RGC 1404 v SwanseaBargoed v Cardiff MetPontypool v Tata SteelLlanharan v GlynneathMerthyr v Bridgend AthTondu v NarberthNewbridge v Blackwood

01/11/2014Tata Steel v RGC 1404Swansea v BargoedCardiff Met v LlanharanBridgend Ath v PontypoolNewbridge v MerthyrGlynneath v TonduBlackwood v Narberth

06/12/2014RGC 1404 v Bridgend AthLlanharan v SwanseaBargoed v Tata SteelTondu v Cardiff MetPontypool v NewbridgeNarberth v GlynneathMerthyr v Blackwood

13/12/2014Newbridge v RGC 1404Swansea v TonduBridgend Ath v BargoedTata Steel v LlanharanCardiff Met v NarberthMerthyr v PontypoolBlackwood v Glynneath

20/12/2014RGC 1404 v MerthyrNarberth v SwanseaBargoed v NewbridgeTondu v Tata SteelGlynneath v Cardiff MetLlanharan v Bridgend AthBlackwood v Pontypool

27/12/2014Pontypool v RGC 1404Swansea v GlynneathMerthyr v BargoedTata Steel v NarberthNewbridge v LlanharanBridgend Ath v TonduCardiff Met v Blackwood

03/01/2015Swansea v Cardiff MetPontypool v BargoedTata Steel v GlynneathMerthyr v LlanharanBridgend Ath v NarberthNewbridge v TonduRGC 1404 v Blackwood

17/01/2015Bargoed v RGC 1404Cardiff Met v Tata SteelLlanharan v PontypoolGlynneath v Bridgend AthTondu v MerthyrNarberth v NewbridgeBlackwood v Swansea

24/01/2015RGC 1404 v LlanharanTata Steel v SwanseaBridgend Ath v Cardiff MetPontypool v TonduNewbridge v GlynneathMerthyr v NarberthBargoed v Blackwood

31/01/2015Tondu v RGC 1404Swansea v Bridgend AthLlanharan v BargoedCardiff Met v NewbridgeNarberth v PontypoolGlynneath v MerthyrBlackwood v Tata Steel

07/02/2015RGC 1404 v NarberthNewbridge v SwanseaBargoed v TonduBridgend Ath v Tata SteelMerthyr v Cardiff MetPontypool v GlynneathLlanharan v Blackwood

14/02/2015Glynneath v RGC 1404Swansea v MerthyrNarberth v BargoedTata Steel v NewbridgeTondu v LlanharanCardiff Met v PontypoolBlackwood v Bridgend Ath

28/02/2015RGC 1404 v Cardiff MetPontypool v SwanseaMerthyr v Tata SteelLlanharan v NarberthNewbridge v Bridgend AthBargoed v GlynneathTondu v Blackwood

07/03/2015Swansea v RGC 1404Cardiff Met v BargoedTata Steel v PontypoolGlynneath v LlanharanBridgend Ath v MerthyrNarberth v TonduBlackwood v Newbridge

CHAMPIONSHIPFIXTURES 2014-15

28/03/2015 (SW Cup QF)RGC 1404 v Tata SteelBargoed v SwanseaLlanharan v Cardiff MetPontypool v Bridgend AthMerthyr v NewbridgeTondu v GlynneathNarberth v Blackwood

04/04/2015Bridgend Ath v RGC 1404Swansea v LlanharanTata Steel v BargoedCardiff Met v TonduNewbridge v PontypoolGlynneath v NarberthBlackwood v Merthyr

11/04/2015 (SW Cup SF)RGC 1404 v NewbridgeTondu v SwanseaBargoed v Bridgend AthLlanharan v Tata SteelNarberth v Cardiff MetPontypool v MerthyrGlynneath v Blackwood

18/04/2015Merthyr v RGC 1404Swansea v NarberthNewbridge v BargoedTata Steel v TonduCardiff Met v GlynneathBridgend Ath v LlanharanPontypool v Blackwood

25/04/2015RGC 1404 v PontypoolGlynneath v SwanseaBargoed v MerthyrNarberth v Tata SteelLlanharan v NewbridgeTondu v Bridgend AthBlackwood v Cardiff Met

The event takes placeSaturday evening, 18thOctober 2014 and isopen to all Nant past andpresent players, coachesand supporters.Proceeds in aid of the Club’s chosencharity for this season: MARIE CURIECANCER CARE.

Tickets: £10.00 each (including ‘HogRoast’ + entertainment) availableONLY from the Secretary (IFORGLYN) on usual contact numbersor e-mail and under “first come, firstserved” basis (over half the 120 tick-ets available already booked!).

During the evening, both WMFFRAHUGHES and GERAINT MORGANwill be presented with momentos inrecognition of over 30 years serviceeach to the Club.

Partners (both male and female)welcomed.

The event will be held at the NANTCONWY CLUBHOUSE following theafternoon’s Division 1 home match vBro Ffestiniog with a 2.30 p.m. kickoff where Mr Carl Hyde (Newtown)will be the designated Referee.

Please contact Ifor Glyn to book yourticket a.s.a.p.

International rugby will returnto Colwyn Bay this autumnwith Namibia taking onCanada (Eirias, November 7).

The venue, home to Wales Under 20for the past three seasons, is becom-ing a regular fixture on the interna-tional circuit, with the match followinglast season’s Test between Japan andRussia and the five-team internationalseries in 2012.

There will be no shortage of Welshconnections with two current Cana-dian internationals plying their trade atthe Ospreys and a number of playershaving spent time playing for RGC.

Former RGC head coach Clive Grif-fiths is involved with Canada Rugby,while former Newport outside half Ga-reth Rees is their team manager. Thematch will kick off a key preparationperiod for Canada ahead of RugbyWorld Cup 2015 - their opening gameagainst Ireland will kick off the Mil-lennium Stadium Rugby World Cupaction on September 19. All Canada’stop players are expected to be part ofthe line-up against Namibia. includ-ing former Scarlet Jamie Cudmore,now at Clermont Auvergne, Glasgow’sDTH van der Merwe and London Irishlock Jebb Sinclair.

Canada currently sit in 17th place inthe world rankings with Namibia in22nd place.

Former Scarlets and Blues headcoach Phil Davies has recently spenttime with the Namibian coaching teamas part of an IRB remit to help pre-pare Tier Two sides for Rugby WorldCup - and could remain linked to theside in the build-up for next year’stournament. He said, “It was a case ofworking closely with the coaches ontheir planning, coaching delivery andprincipals of play looking at the yearahead.”

Some of Namibia’s best knownplayers include Sarances back rowJacques Burger and Exeter Chiefs fullback Chrysander Botha, along with acontingent of players in South Afri-ca’s Currie Cup. Head coach, formerDax prop Danie Vermeulen has justcompleted a trial weekend and is de-termined to put down a marker in theCanada game.

He said, “A number of players puttheir hands up for selection for theend of year squad and Rugby WorldCup. We don’t want to make excuses.Canada is a key target for us.”

Cllr Graham Rees, Conwy’s CabinetMember for Tourism, Marketing andLeisure added:

“We’re proud that we’ve been able tosecure this exciting fixture for Eirias,Colwyn Bay. This time next year thesetwo teams will be competing in theRugby World Cup with worldwidetelevision audiences of millions, this isa wonderful opportunity for rugby fansto come along and support nationalfirst teams playing on our doorstep.”

“It’s clear there are many fans andenthusiastic spectators here in NorthWales and we’re pleased to be ableto offer the facilities for everyone toenjoy top flight rugby.”

Tickets are now available for thematch from Colwyn Leisure Centre orgo to www.venuecymru.co.uk Tickets from £5 for Under 16s, £10for adults, £15 for seated tickets.

GOT SOME NEWS TOSHARE FROM YOUR CLUB?

Please emal the details togwcymru1@aol.com for

inclusion in the next issue

The WRU has adopted an official WelshLanguage Policy which will help enshrinethe use of the language in rugby both onand off the field.

WRU unveils Welsh language policy andbilingual web-site option (Da iawn--OrDiwedd !!)

The policy will ensure the language isconsidered across the business and rugbyoperations and wherever the game isplayed by WRU teams.

To coincide with the adoption of the policythe WRU has unveiled a new bi-lingualwebsite which will regularly be uploadedwith rugby news from Wales.

The website can be opened through aWelsh option button on the main homepage of the existing website (CYM).

The new policy is also published onthe WRU website and printed copies ofthe document are being sent to all staffand stakeholders. The policy has beenapproved by the WRU Board and wasdevised after consultation with the WelshLanguage Commissioner for guidance oncontent.

Within the policy, protocols are outlinedfor the use of Welsh throughout the remitof the governing body, which includes theMillennium Stadium. The policy coversareas such as website use, publications,social media, telephone protocols andpublic speaking.

WRU staff will monitor the use and devel-opment of the policy which will evolve toreflect the growth of rugby in future. TheWRU will also continue to liaise with theWelsh Language Commissioner’s office toseek advice on implementing the policy.

WRU Group Chief Executive, RogerLewis, said: “I am delighted the WelshRugby Union has published an officialpolicy which reflects our duty of care forthe use of the Welsh language across thenational sport of Wales.

“We represent the national sport of Walesand it is right and proper that we cham-pion and facilitate the use of Welsh bothwithin the WRU and through the peoplewe engage with. We already carry out agreat deal of work through the medium ofWelsh and this policy document is an ac-curate reflection of our commitment to thelanguage.”

The Chairman of the WRU, David Picker-ing, added: “Welsh is a living languageand the WRU is proud to acknowledge itsimportance through the adoption of thisnew policy.

“I hope this move will show the way forother organisations who want to follow our

WRU and schools joinfoces to improve health ofthe gameAn army of high calibre individuals hasbeen appointed by schools across Walesin order to make a huge impact into thegrowth of rugby in Wales.

The ‘school-club hub officers’ have avariety of backgrounds including formerprofessional rugby players, current semi-professional players, coaches, teachersand development professionals, and havebeen employed by 43 schools and col-leges as full time rugby officers with a keyobjective to increase the amount of rugbyplayed at schools and clubs.

Some of the appointments in the Dragonsregion include Bridgend assistant coachMike Hook who has been employedby Lewis School, Pengam; Cross Keyscaptain Adam Powell as Tredegar Com-prehensive’s new rugby officer; Pontypriddflanker Jake Thomas is at NewbridgeComprehensive and Dragons outside halfDorian Jones, son of Kingsley has joinedhis old teachers at Brynmawr.

Former Wales and Dragons hooker SteveJones has joined the ranks at Gower Col-

WRUNEWS

example and proclaim their support forWelsh in this way.

“We know how hard the Welsh Govern-ment works to promote the use of thelanguage and we are delighted to align ourown policies to that strategy.

“Of course many people will continueto engage with the WRU in the Englishlanguage but we must reflect the needs ofWelsh speakers who want to use Welshthroughout their daily lives.

“We are also extremely grateful to S4C forthe help they are giving us in achievingour ambitions with the website content.”

The WRU and S4C have forged a partner-ship within which the Union allows thebroadcaster access to Welsh languagevideo content which can then be utilisedby both organisations. This enables theWRU to guarantee a flow of Welsh lan-guage content across its web output.

The WRU already boasts a wide use ofthe Welsh language through areas suchas its publications, coaching, match officialand skills training courses, publications,media engagement and signage.

The WRU offers facilities for mediainterviews to be carried out through themedium of Welsh around the world whereWales teams play.

lege, former Ospreys flanker Ben Thomasis making waves at Brynteg Comprehen-sive, former Wales centre Neil Boobyerand Chris Jones share joint responsibilityfor the role at Treorchy Comprehensive,and in the Scarlets region, some of themore well-known names include formerprop Aled Griffiths who is flying the flag atYsgol Bro Myrddin, Carmarthen, Car-marthen Quins hooker Gethin Robinsonwho has been appointed at Queen Eliza-beth High and former Llanelli and Llando-very outside half Tomas Marks who hastaken up the role at Ysgol Bro Dinefwr.

The schools, working closely with theWelsh Rugby Union, have signed up to aset of criteria which will ensure the rugbyofficers offer opportunities to play the na-tional sport - in its various forms - to bothboys and girls of all abilities throughoutthe school and that there is an effectivecommunication and interface between theschool and neighbouring club. The WelshRugby Union has provided funding to theschools to enable them to make theseappointments.

The initiative has been developed androlled out following the root and branchreview into Welsh rugby recently carriedout by WRU Head of Rugby Josh Lewsey.

Lewsey said, “The ‘school-club hubs’created by the appointment of the rugbyofficers will provide a huge boost to Welshrugby. This model plays a key part indeveloping a co-ordinated system thatunderpins the long term needs of both theelite and community game.

“They will provide for the disseminationof best practice throughout the countryand connect the coaching advice of thenational team to those delivering at grassroots. They will help to raise standardson the field, within the WRU Under 18Wednesday League and the WelshSchools Regional Leagues but a key aimwill also be on the transition and retentionof players into the club game.

“There is clear evidence now emergingthat a disciplined sports programme canalso contribute to improved academicresults, attendance statistics and pupils’confidence and self-esteem. As such, byfocussing on the game’s core values anddesigning the seasonal structure to sup-port the academic timetable, it is hopedthis initiative will contribute to the develop-ment of well-balanced and healthy youngpeople who will be good role modelswithin their schools and communities.Such changes do not happen overnightbut hopefully this is the first step towardsa sustainable and successful structure forthe health of the national sport.”

Conintued on next page

WRUNEWS

WRU and schools joinfoces to improve health ofthe gameContinued from previous page

The initiative is part of the WRU rugbydepartment’s wider strategy which will bedetailed at a launch next week.

School-Club Hub Officers by Region:

OspreysPencoed Comprehensive Dean RonanPontarddulais Josh HumphriesOlchfa Luke LewisBrynteg Ben ThomasBryntirion Kyle TaylerGower College Steve JonesYstalyfera Owen PhillipsDwr-y-Felin Ricky JonesCefn Hengoed Tom SloaneBryn Tawe Llywarch ap MyrddinMorriston Nick JenkinsPorthcawl Greg Davies

RGC 1404Ysgol Brynhyfryd Jim SalisburyLlandrillo College Andrew WilliamsGlan Clwyd tbcYsgol y Berwyn Euros Jones

DragonsLlanwern High Llyr DaviesWest Monmouth School tbcLewis School Pengam Mike HookBassaleg Patrick JamesColeg Gwent Ebbw Vale Lewis RobertsBrynmawr Dorian JonesTredegar Adam PowellSt Julians Chris ConfordNewbridge Jake Thomas

ScarletsYsgol Dyffryn Amman Gareth PotterQueen Elizabeth High Gethin RobinsonYsgol Bro Dinefwr Tomas MarksYsgol y Strade Deiniol EvansBro Myrddin Aled GriffithsYsgol Maes y Gwendraeth Owain FrancisYsgol Dyffryn Taf Geraint EvansSir Thomas Picton Gethin GreavesColeg Sir Gar tbc

BluesEastern High tbcYsgol Gyfun Glantaf Rhydian GarnerFitzalan High Stuart ClarkeLlanishen High Harry TrelawnyAberdare Community Gavin WiliamsTreorchy Comprehensive Chris Jones/Neil BoobyerCrickhowell High tbcYsgol Gymraeg Cymer Ben DanielsYsgol Plasmawr Sion Wyn Davies

The North Wales Rugby Union Handbook for 2014-15 will beavailable at all the North/Mid Wales clubs who play in theWRU Championship and the North Wales leagues.

Inside you will find contact details for each club, fixtures,all those important rules and regulations, internationaldiary and much more, and it’s free!

Head in to your nearest rugby cluband pick up your free copy

- available from October 4th

Clwb Rygbi Bethesda are having a 40 years reunion as part of the club’s 40thAnniversary celebrations.

Club spokesman Eifion Davies stated: ‘We would like to see as many formerplayers and officials that have graced Clwb Rygbi Bethesda over the years toturn up at the Club at 1 o clock for a meet and greet, watch the game againstCaernarfon and retire back to the club for refreshments. Then we’ll catch upand rekindle old memories and have a great night’.

Dolgellau Under 16s sponsored CadairIdris walk for Italy trip

Dolgellau RFC Under 16s pictured at the summitt of the 2930 foot Cadair Idris.

The walk was to make much needed funds for the juniors trip to Italy this sum-mer when over forty players and officials take the flight over the alps.

The youngster are no starngers to playing matches abroad, with this being theirsecond international visit in two years having toured Ireland last summer.

Fixture Poollaunched for Northand Mid WalesThe NWRUC have created afixture pool which will be ad-ministered by Harry Guttridge ofBala RFC.

Clubs looking for games can contactHarry atemail: harry.guttridge@hotmail.co.ukor telephone: 07882 712660

Should you have a call-off, please tel-ephone Harry to inform him and ensurethat he is given the full contact detailsof the person at your club who shouldbe contacted to discuss a possible newfixture, should one become available.

At the time of telephoning Harry to informhim that your game is postponed, pleasehave a pen and paper with you just incase there is a possible ‘instant match’and you are in a position to take the de-tails immediately.

PLEASE ENSURE THAT NO TELE-PHONE CALLS ARE MADE AFTER 10pm

Very important: If you have given notifica-tion that you are looking for a fixture, but inthe meantime manage to arrange one byyourselves, please inform Harry so that hecan cross your team off his list. We mustsure that all information is current.

Please note that it is up to the club toorganise a referee (through the RefereesAppointments Secretary) once a gamehas been agreed.

WalesU18GirlsmakingrapidprogressThe massive strides Wales Under 18 Girlshave made under the guidance of RhysEdwards and Richie Pugh was fully il-lustrated when they finished runners-up toEngland in the recent Rugby Europe Un-der 18 tournament in Enkoping, Sweden.

England, who Wales also lost to in thefinal, proved a class apart and won 43-0in the opening pool match but HannahJones’ side bounced back to win theirremaining games on day one by beatingPortugal (17-5) and Ireland (12-5).

Wales began Sunday in fine fettle bydefeating hosts Sweden 22-7 to easethrough to the semi-finals where thestrong Netherlands side had no answer tothe pace and guile of Wales who ran out26-5 winners.

England confirmed their status as theteam to beat in the final when they re-corded a 54-0 win against Wales but headcoach Rhys Edwards was still of praise forhis side who performed above expecta-tions.

“The girls really stepped up for thetournament,” he said. “The UK Gameswere a week before and in between thattournament and this one in Sweden, theyresponded well to the monitoring. Elli Nor-kett performed well while scrum half KeiraBevan looks a promising prospect.

“The best performance was against theNetherlands in the semi-finals where wesmashed them.”

Team manager Daryl Morgan, added: “Thegirls showed the commitment and abilitywe knew they possessed all along. Twoplayers - Samantha Morris and EmmaHennessy - stepped up to the squad fromthe School games B squad, and bothmade significant contributions to the suc-cess of the weekend.

“With the performances of the players whorepresented their country last weekendand the up and coming players who havealready been identified through our devel-opment programmes, there is a great dealof optimism around women’s and girl’srugby in Wales at the moment.”

Wales Under 18 Girls in Sweden Morfydd ifans (Scarlets) Alisha butchers (Scarlets) Jenny Collins (Scarlets) Beth jones (Scarlets) Sam Morris (Blues) Hannah Jones (Ospreys - captain) Ffion Lewis (Scarlets) Robyn Harris (Dragons) Elli Knorkett (Ospreys) Emma Hennessy (Dragons) Kerry Collins (Scarlets) Keira Bevan (Ospreys)

Caernarfon Ladies began the Division1 campaign in style running in thirteentries against an ever gallant Blaenauside.

Tries were scored at regular intervalsin the opening quarter with the Cofitask made easier as Blaenau sadlysuffered numerous injuries. Pace outwide secured an early touchdown forwing Rhian Pritchard with standoffSera Bailey capitalizing on oppositewing Sian Breakell drive to add to thetry tally soon later. Blaenau tackledwell but found forwards Grisial Pughand Emma Edwards in the samemood for the Cofis and when a kickand chase from scrumhalf Jess Ka-vanagh bounced kindly to allow her tosprint clear and score Blaenau headsbegan to drop.

Another Bailey charge from a linoutpeel secured the bonus point beforeRhian Gwawr swapped passes withher scrumhalf within seconds of herintroduction to increase the lead.

Alaw Davies at centre was the extralady to score next with Jess Kavanaghbringing the first half scoring to an endwith a brace of her own.

Blaenau to their credit enjoyed a sus-tained period of pressure towards theend of the first half as they securedand maintained possession but failedto find the final telling pass.

WOMENS RUGBY

With numbers matched during thesecond period a more even contestwas expected but the positional senseof the Cofi backline and superior sup-port play led to another series of tries.Alaw Davies scored her second withintwo minutes of the restart with herfellow centre Lauren Hassett touchingdown twice later from counterattack-ing moves that caught Blaenau shortin defence.

The tackling of Anna Mills and KellyWatkins for Blaenau certainly stoppedother scores before wing Nikki Gard-ner showed what she was capable ofif given the ball as she left numerouswould be tacklers in her wake to scorea fine individual try that was warmlyreceived by all supporters and wascertainly just reward for the effort andcommittment shown by the visitingsquad.

The Cofis however returned to addpressure with Jess Kavanagh scor-ing her fourth try and Rhian Pritchardclosing proceedings with her secondon her Cofi debut. Nine of the thirteentries were converted, Sera Bailey’ssure boot responsible for eight withJess Kavanagh adding one other.Some were from quite a distance andfrom difficult angles.

Report kindly supplied byEifion Harding.

NewteamforLlangollenLadiesLlangollen / Glyn Ceiriog RFC have started train-ing a ladies seniors team out of Tower Fields inLlangollen.

They currently have 6 ladies training and are re-ally keen on building their numbers. No previousrugby experience is necessary,

if you are interested please email me onjferrari@wru.co.uk and I will put you in touch withVicci Merryfield. Vicci is looking after this newsection of the club.

Alternatively pop along on Sunday mornings,10:00am to Tower Field, Tower Road, Llangollen;Adjacent to Ysgol Dinas Bran.

WOMENS RUGBYPenybanc panthers were given the oppor-tunity of experiencing what it would be likeas a professional player with an overnightstay before the match. The only differencewas that a professional team would prob-ably stay at 5* hotel, the panthers weretreated to a night at Pontins, Prestatyn!

The stay however, did break up the longjourney and the girls arrived at ParcAbergele as fresh as they could be. ThePanthers have attracted many players oflate to the team and there would be noless than four new debutants in the squadNicole Davies, Ffion Evans and HannahJones and Alisha Butchers.

On a sun drenched afternoon the gamekicked off which happened to be officiatedby a female referee which was good tosee. Abergele dominated the very earlyexchanges with panthers unusually sloppyin their handling providing the heavierGele pack to get solid position from theresulting scrums.

However it was the Panthers inspira-tional no.8 Fabiana O’callahan who burstthrough two missed tackles to open thePanthers account on five minutes whichseemed to settle the team and return themback to a solid footing.

In credit to Abergele they used the verynarrow field to great effect gaining yardsthrough tight play in their forwards whichrestricted the free flowing wide game ofthe panthers but luckily the visitors had asecret weapon in their team..

Debutant Alisha Butchers who thrived inthe contact and turned numerous balls

over for the grateful backs of the Panthers.It was inevitable that newbie HannahJones would have an influence on thisgame and on 24 minutes she crossed thewhitewash to register her scoring accountin fine fashion, Rees added the extra’s.

Two minutes later returning to the side forthe first time this season Alanna Wood-ford crossed for a superb try which wascreated by delightful passing between theforwards and the backs.

Abergele looked physically downbeatwhen they conceded a fourth try to thescoring machine Brittany Price whichsecured a bonus point at least for the Pan-thers. The half time whistle blew with thescore 22-0 in the Panthers favour.

The first half performance was well belowthe Panthers usual standard and a fewstern words by the management and cap-tain Rees to the team to up the tempo sawthe Panthers take to the field determinedto raise their standards.

There was an immediate response fromthe girls which saw Brittony Price showa great turn of foot to beat her oppositenumber and cross over for her second ofthe game.

Hannah Jones had settled into the teamwell and showed why she is considered tobe one of the brightest talent in womensrugby by scoring a try which combined ashow of strength, skill and pure talent torun past almost the entire Abergele team,Rees who was having a fine day with theboot added the extra’s.

By now the team were in full swing andwere giving the healthy crowd a displayof some great rugby. Both forwards andbacks were complementing each otherwell with great strength of the forwardsand the finesse of the smooth runningbacks.

Not content with one try Alana Woodfordhelped herself to another with predictableRees converting. On 60 minutes FfionEvans came on to the field to make herdebut and immediately got into the gamereleasing the influential Danielle Jenkins toscore a fine try.

It’s not often these days that Brittony Pricedoesn’t score a hatful and again for thesecond time in as many games crossedfor her hattrick, Rees added the extra’s.

Continued on next page

Nicole Davies and Faye Bowen enter thefray to gain their first caps for the panthersand did great but it was fittingly left to theplayer of the game and debutant AlsihaButchers to close the Panthers try scoringaccount on 79 minutes, you heard thisname here first, definitely one to watch inthe future. At just 17 and in her first seniorgame gave a comprehensive performanceand the Panthers have seem to capture avery talented player.

Hywel Thomas said following the game ‘it’s never easy to travel away from homeand in fairness Abergele caused usproblems but it’s great that we now havesuch strength in depth that the girls pulledthrough scoring ten tries without playingtheir best rugby.

Many thanks to Penybanc Panthersfor kindly allowing us to reproduce thematch report which first appeared onthe Penybanc RFC website.

WOMENS RUGBY

The picture above includes Zoe o’Malleyand Eleri Prosser during their trials withCheshire Girls U15

TwoNorthWalesgirlshavetrialswithCheshireU15Girls

PLEASE HELP US TOSPREAD THE NEWS ABOUT

WOMEN’S RUGBYPlease send news, match

reports and pictures togwcymru1@aol.com forinclusion in future issues

Saturday,6thSeptemberBlackwood6vRGC12

RGC came away with an away win in therain, after a testing game at Blackwoodin 2nd half when they made it difficult forthemselves.

Points not Performance - reportby Scott Lawson, RGC

Assistant Coach Josh Leach felt it was agame they could have easily lost “I’m obvi-ously disappointed with the performance.We dominated possession and createdopportunities but we turned the ball overcheaply”

With the torrential rain straight from kickoff Leach felt his players didn’t account forthe weather “We have to learn to the con-ditions, and know when to play the ball.Blackwood didn’t look like scoring until thefly-half came on and but it wasn’t for thepost we could have lost”

The opening 20 minutes was an arm wres-tle between the forwards with the Gogslooking more dangerous on the break.Huw Grundy was bundled into touch aftersome good phase play, with Rhodri Carl-ton Jones and Harri Evans next to link upwell in the pursuit of the opening try.

Blackwood were struggling at the break-down as RGC gained more possessionand territory, and it told when Huw Grundycrashed through the defensive line toscore after Carlton-Jones made a goodoffload. The fly-half making his 50th ap-pearance hit the extras.

The battle between the forwards contin-ued as the rain continued to fall heavy.Blackwood started to test the Gogsdefence after a number of kicks behindthe backs. A missed RGC lineout put thevisitors under big pressure, with some bigtackles needed to keep Blackwood out.Huw Worthington was working hard in thebreakdown.

Some quick thinking and a perfect kickfrom the scrum by Alex Schwarz relievedthe pressure, and after Carwyn Ap Myrd-din was taken out chasing the ball down,the home side were reduced to 14 men.

Maredydd Francis was putting a forwardsshift in, and looked impressive doing theunsung work when the ball was on thefloor time and time again.

RGC headed into the break 7 nil up, aftera half where they should have turnedmore of the possession into points.

With the rain still falling as the 2nd halfbegan, RGC needed to play the conditionsbetter and keep the ball moving throughthe phases but some poor handling anddecision let them down.

Blackwood got back in the game with 2penalties and captain Kelvin Davies wasyellow carded for a late tackle.

With them down to 14 men, the Gogsseemed to lose composure and thepasses went loose time and time againas they looked for the killer pass early inthe phase build up. The frustration felt onthe touchline was clearly repeated on thepitch when the RGC side just needed aplayer to keep hold of the ball and controlthe play.

Huw Grundy looked like he was in for a trybefore a last gap tap tackle stopped himagonisingly close to the line.

Substitute fly half James Lang showedsome neat footwork to break the gainline,but the passes weren’t going to hand.

With the clock ticking down and the pres-sure building Blackwood were awarded apenalty in front of the posts, but the kickrebounded of the post to the relief of theGog supporters.

With the match nearing the full time whis-tle RGC began to use the rolling maul, andfor the first time in the half kept the ballwith the Blackwood forwards tiring AlexSchwarz dived over for the try and the win.

RGC arrived at the ground in blisteringsunshine and left with the sun behindthem, but for the 80 minutes of rugby therain put a dampener on the performancebut not the win.

Saturday,13thSeptemberRGC30vBargoed34

A couple of minutes of mad-ness cost Chris Horsman’s menreports Rob Griffiths, Daily Post

Plenty of good points to take from thegame, but lapses at the beginning of thesecond period cost RGC dearly

RGC were left to rue two minutes of mad-ness in the second-half, after putting ina big performance against Bargoed, butfinishing on the losing side.

After going into the break 17-12 down,RGC gifted the visitors a try with an inter-ception from a loose James Lang pass asthe game kicked off. The Gogs didn’t evenget a chance to recover before the visitorswent over for another try minutes later to astunned Eirias support.

Head coach Chris Horsman took apositive in the teams character, saying:“Of course I am hugely disappointed inthe result, but I am proud of the playersperformance. The boys played the gamewith maturity to manage the game, but itwas 2 mad minutes with the interceptionand a throw over the top from the line outcost us.

“The style of rugby, our resilience and thematurity of the performance is credit to theplayers today. I thought Kelvin (Davies)led the team like a colossus today andAlex Schwarz brings a spark and zip toour game.

“Considering we chipped a big score awaylast season, it shows how far we havecome and I truly feel something special isbeing built here.”

RGC began brightly with the pack work-ing hard, and scrum half Schwarz hit thegainline to break through to score theopening try.

The visitors then looked to get back intothe game and were trying to build on thephases and it wasn’t a surprise to see PhilPrice going over with James Prosser scor-ing the conversion.

Bargoed then picked up another try afterbreaking down a Gogs attack, Prosseragain hitting the conversion.

The RGC pack again were winning thearm wrestle in the scrum and a big pushagainst the head got a cheer from theEirias crowd. The Gog support knew theeffort needed against an strong Bargoedforward unit, and man for man the RGCpack didn’t disappoint.

The cheers continued with Huw Grundygoing over the line, when the Ap Myrddinbrothers fed the ball to the centre to powerover. The right pass at the right time, wasa complete difference to last week’s poorpassing decisions, which would havepleased the coaching staff. Lang knocked

over the conversion. The boot of Prosserended the half when hit scored a penaltyfor a 17-12 lead.

The opening five minutes of the secondhalf were the crucial moments of thegame, but for the remaining 35 minutesRGC played attacking and clever rugby.

RGC needed some points on the boardand Lang kicked two penalties to move thescoreboard on.

The referee dished out a few yellow cardsto Bargoed and the infringements contin-ued around the breakdown. It was clearlydifficult for the referee to get a hold ofeverything on the pitch, including an offthe ball incident where Kelvin Davies wasstruck from behind when he was on thefloor. Bargoed tactics were clearly seen asthe game progressed, RGC continued toplay all the rugby.

The momentum was now with the homeside and after a big drive the Gogs wentover for a try given to Kelvin Davies butLang failed to convert the added points.

The kicking of Prosser again dented theRGC attacks, as the fly-half put anotherpenalty over the posts with a pressurekick.

Bargoed went to uncontested scrums with2 players in the sin bin, and after AndyBaston and Davies tried to puncture thedefence with power, it was the sublimeskill of Tom Blackwell to get the bonuspoint try. His feet went one way and theBargoed tackler went the other way,before the winger dived behind the postsmaking it a simple Lang conversion.

The Eirias crowd were making more noisethan ever, trying to push the players onto close the 4 point difference and theywere nearly raising the roof as Grundy andBlackwell both broke the line before beingchased down.

Ultimately it wasn’t enough as those twominutes at the start of the second provedcrucial as Bagoed claimed the win.

Pictures kindly supplied by Alan Skeatesfor Blackwood and Bargoed games.

Saturday,20thSeptemberLlanharan5vRGC26

On a beautiful and balmy Satur-day afternoon RGC came awayfrom South Wales with a well-deserved bonus point victory.

Match report by Will Morecombe

RGC started well playing their usual at-tacking brand of rugby and were slightlyunfortunate not to open the scoring whenfollowing a nice break from outside-halfJames Lang what would have been thefinal scoring pass ended up on the ground.

This early scare appeared to galvanise thehome side and the next 10 minutes wereprobably their best of the entire game. Aseries of pick and drives close to the RGCline led to Mareddyd Francis receiving ayellow card and shortly afterwards LLan-haran made their numerical advantagepay as they burrowed over from a yard outto open the scoring for the day.

It seemed as if they might hold onto thislead until half-time but with the final play ofthe first half Huw Grundy made a sear-ing break from just inside the Llanharanhalf and two passes later Afon Bagshawtouched down to the left of the posts.James Lang slotting the extras.

One of the features of the first half hadbeen the large number of scrums andthis pattern continued in the second andfrom one of these the referee awarded apenalty try after the RGC front-row of LeonCrump,Andy Baston and James Joneshad put their opposite numbers in all sortsof trouble. James Lang again added theextras.

With the cushion of a nine point lead theRGC pack led by Kelvin Davies and AndyBaston began to gain dominance in theloose as well as in the tight and from theterritory thus gained further scores camefrom Tom Blackwell and Carwyn Ap Myrd-din.

Unfortunately the game ended on a slight-ly flat note for the visitors when followinga head injury to Afon Bagshaw the refereeblew up just under 5 minutes early. Fortu-nately following a precautionary visit to thelocal A & E unit Bagshaw was dischargedwith nothing more than a sore head.

AND THE VIEW FROM LLANHARAN

Following report kindly supplied from theLlanharan web-site

Llanharan lost their third successive gameamidst some unfortunate ironies.

Back in December at RGC Dairyfield backrow man Dafi Davies was stretcheredoff with a long-term leg injury and sadlylimped to the touchline with knee damagejust seven minutes into this game.

More seriously, five minutes from time itwas visiting fullback Afon Bagshaw whowas taken away in an ambulance with aneck injury. Referee Gareth Newman hadthe consent of both sides in ending thematch at that stage, RGC with a bonuspoint already in the bag and no chance ofthe Dairymen getting even a losing bonus.Happily Afon was discharged later thatevening with no serious injury diagnosed.

However, that was one of the few referee’sdecisions the home fans would haveagreed with, as they seemed to fall foul ofmultiple rulings throughout, particularly inthe scrum and contact area.

The black and blues had done well up theslope to take a 5-0 lead in the first fortyminutes, only to see the developmentteam grab an interval advantage in timeadded on with their only threat inside thetwenty two, Rory Martin- Smith in the sinbin at the time.

It was a warning sign of RGC’s potencyas Bagshaw went over after a long rangeattack, cancelling out a try by Bill Carey,who along with Ross Pritchard, was mak-ing a return to his home club after a yearaway..

James Lang’s conversion gave the awayside a 7-5 half time lead.

Even so, many would have put moneyon Llanharan after the turn around, butthey went off the boil and allowed RGC todisplay their attacking ability.

Early pressure after the restart came fromthe Colwyn Bay based outfit and it wasonly good tackles from the likes of MikePowell and Tyler Williams aided by turno-vers from skipper Scott Malone that keptthem at bay.

However, a rebound saw the pack losea scrum head and a collapse ended in apenalty try, Lang making it 14-5.

The lead grew in the 56th minute withwing Tom Blackwell going over, again theopposition not helped by another scrumdecision against them.

Defeat for the Dairyfield side was con-firmed as left wing Carwyn Ap Myrddinsped over immediately after the yellowcard and Lang converted.

There was at last a response from thebeleaguered side as they pressed on theline, but shouts from the crowd for a pen-alty try as a quick penalty was tackled in-side the ten metres zone went unheeded,and Llanharan know that a huge responsewill be needed as they travel to powerfulBargoed on Saturday.

Head coach Matthew Lloyd commented:“A disappointing result again as we werefirmly in the game at half time. There washuge effort from the players - the win isn’tfar away but we must play what’s in frontof us and discipline has to be better.”

Many thanks to Llanharan for the use oftheir match report and picture.