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FEATURE: DOWN MEMORY LANE

Many thanks to NWRU President,Tony Gray, for loaning this matchprogramme and others which willbe featured in future issues.

I’m the sort of person who, whenChristmas arrives, is provided witha big list of jobs by ‘her indoors’that she’d like me to get donearound the house when I’m enjoy-ing a couple of days off from work.

However, I have my own little list(in my mind of course) which usu-ally comprises something to do

with rugby. This year, I’ve decidedto have a blitz and tidy up all myrugby paperwork which has ac-cumulated in to enormous propor-tions. In fact, don’t be surprised tosee me on one of those ‘hoarder’programmes on TV...

Amongst the gems that I’veunearthed is a little pile of pro-grammes from Tony and I thoughtthis would be an ideal opportunityfor a feature in the next few is-sues. So, here we go.

This game, as you can see fromthe cover, was played on 20thFebruary, 1965.

I’m going to reproduce the ‘ClubNotes’ below which appearedon the intro page inside the pro-gramme:

‘The cover to today’s programmegaily abbreviates our guests’ titleto NORTH WALES, and, withabandon, omits RUGBY UNION.We are sure that they won’t mind,but all the same, we’ll apologise,beg their pardon, and hope thatthey’ll have a good time and gohome convinced, if they didn’tknow it before, that Old Deer Parkis a thunderingly good place tocome to.

For our part, we are delighted towelcome North Wales RU for theirsecond visit. We suppose that, fortheir part, they are happy to makethe trip to the big and wicked citybut we fear that they might not beaccompanied by their president,and our old friend, Arthur Reeswho si now, as well all know, ChiefConstable of Staffordshire.

If he is absent we would suggestto him that he should get a littleorder, if not law, into his private af-fairs and ask North Wales kindly totell him so and to convey our verybest wishes to him.

North Wales (we’ll persist) admitthat they have not enjoyed thebest of playing records this sea-son. They have lost on Merseyside(that’s enough to depress anyone)and suffered a particularly heavydefeat early in the season at thehands (and presumably feet) ofAberavon - they’re not the onlyones and there’s no disgrace at-tached to it.

Like other combined teams theysometimes have difficulty in field-ing their strongest XV, but, theyproudly claim, they believe inthrowing the ball about. That’ll putanybody at Old Deer Park in sym-pathy with them.

FEATURE: LONDON WELSH v NORTH WALESThey like the fact that some oftheir players find their way toLondon Welsh - for example D.Gray and W. Williams - and we arehappy to find Gerry Lougher, whoplayed at full-back for them lastyear, on a wing this year.

Last year, too, they had W. J.Morris of Newport in their ranksand now express their pride in hisbeing capped for Wales.

As, for technical reasons, it isdifficult to add details to the list ofplayers in the centre spread, we’llrepeat the team again and showthe players’ parent clubs alongsidetheir names:

R. Ll. Jones (Waterloo)D. W Jones (Birkenhead Park)

F. Mitchell (Coleg Harlech)G. Lougher (The Army)E. Burford (Trawsfynydd)S. Addicott (Loughborough Coll)T. Crook (Birkenhead Park)J. Byrne (Birkenhead Park)N. Ashworth (Birkenhead Park)G. Evans (Bangor University)D. Blick (Birmingham)R. Fletcher (Dunstable)J. M. T. Rogers (Old Birkonians)C. S Dutson (Wasps)’

As a further part of the pro-gramme’s Club Notes ‘a keensupporter’ had been watching theDruids play Ealing the week beforeand penned a report which wasa little uncomplimentary to theExiles’ second team.

At the end of the report the ‘Editor’

summed up, as follows:‘This is the voice of an honest manWe are delighted to have such anunusual piece for this programme.Lots of people will be offended,but one man’s opinion will havebeen freely expressed. That, wesuspect, is exactly what we meanwhen we utter such bromides as‘the British way of life’ or ‘democ-racy’ or ‘freedom of thought’. Let’shave more of it.’

For those of you who like a bit ofnostalgia, I couldn’t resist puttingthis match report in after findingthe match programme in my attic.

GUARDS SNATCHVICTORY IN LASTPLAY OF GAMEThe venue, Old Deer Park, the oppo-sition the Welsh Guards in a pre-inter-national game which both sides hopewill become a regular fixture at theLondon Welsh home ground.

A brave and enthusiastic GogleddCymru team, depleted through injuryand led by experienced back rowforward Richard (Tin-tin) Jones setout for London on Friday night for this12.00pm fixture.

Gogledd Cymru opened the scorewith a try by Sean McDonagh, thefirst Colwyn Bay player to turn outfor the team. This was quickly fol-lowed by an equaliser from the WelshGuards to take the score to 5 all. TheGogledd pack, containing newcomerTom James, performed well, with theLlangefni front row pairing of AndrewBaston and Rhodri Owen outstanding.It was Baston who score the Gog’ssecond try. At this stage GogleddCymru were in control and it looked asif they would win this game comfort-ably.

By half time the Welsh Guards hadequalised and with the score at 10all, everything was set for an excitingsecond half.

Light footed Rhodri Carlton Jones,playing at 10 for the first time, madea number of searing breaks and apartfrom final passes not going to handGogledd Cymru would have scored 2or 3 more tries.

In the end it was the Guards who tookthe lead and with 10 minutes to go itlooked as if they would win the game.Then, Sean MacDonagh took advan-tage of a Guards’ knock on to hackthe ball through. In the chase Mac-

donagh had the pace and composureto score.

Carlton-Joned added the conversionto take the score to 17-15. A GogleddCymru victory seemed certain when inthe last of the game, the ball shot outsideways from a scrum infront of theposts. The Guardsmen’s scrum halfpounced on it and the easy conver-sion made the final score 22-17.

It was a bitter blow for the GogleddCymru but with clear improvementsin both decision making and skill, thedevelopment process continues.

The teams were as follows:

Gogledd Cymru1. Aaron Jones2. Andrew Baston3. Rhodri Owen4. Llion Trevor5. Tom James6. Dylan Owen7. Dylan Hughes8. Richard Hughes (Capt)9. Rhys Hughes10. Rhodri Carlton Jones11. Edwyn Roberts12. Gareth Coy13. Iwan Edwards14. Huw Parry

15. Sean McDonagh16. Gary Teeson17. Osian Williams18. Paul Jones19. Tom WatkinsCoaches Jon Aby, Norman Stalker

Welsh Guards1. LCpl M. Lewis 23 (Capt)2. LCpl M. Dwyer3. LSgt M. Prosser4. LCpl D. Ahearne5. LCpl S. George6. LCpl P. Quarmi7. LCpl J. Saniger8. LSgt C. Scarf9. Gdsm J. Evans 1510. Gdsm G. Carter11. LCpl G. Davies12. LCpl P. Lewis13. LCpl N. Hiscock14. Gdsm G. Greggson15. LSgt D. Lewis 2916. SSgt N. Wheeler17. Gdsm G. Brownette18. Gdsm M. Walters19. LCpl L. Soko20. Pte P. Delana21 Sgt C Williams 205

Coaches:Sgt. J HawkinsWo2 A Campbell

Saturday,27thDecemberPontypool29vRGC7

Following report kindly supplied byWill Morecombe

In spite of their long coach journey toPontypool it was RGC rather than thehome side who started the brighterand they were rewarded for their earlyendeavours when following a incisiveline-break from right wing Huw Grun-dy, full-back Afon Bagshaw crossedthe whitewash under the posts for theopening score of the game. - RhodriCarlton-Jones adding the extras.

The lead was however to prove short-lifted. RGC were penalised followinga scrum 10 metres from their lineand when they were penalised againafter Pontypool had opted to have itreset the referee had no hesitation inawarding a penalty try to the homeside and with the conversion beingmade from in front of the posts thescores were tied at 7-7.

Within 5 minutes of the re-start Ponty-pool were in the lead for the first timein the match.In a manner reminiscent of RGC’sscore, their left wing punched a holeup the middle before off-loading to thesupporting runner, Marc Thorley, whotouched down under the RGC posts.

Again the extras were added to givePontypool a 14-7 lead and the RGCcause was made no easier when their

number 8 and Captain Kelvin Dav-ies was yellow carded just before thebreak for a late tackle.

Early in the second-half Pontypoolextended their lead further when across field kick was grounded bysecond rower Ryan Thomas andalthough the conversion was missedany thoughts of an RGC comebackwere extinguished by 2 further tries forthe home-team.The first came when the ball cameloose following a scrum in the RGC22 and was pounced upon by thePooler srum-half who off-loaded toJosh Porter to score, the second andPontypool’s fifth in total was a pusho-ver dropped on by their number 8,Matthew Thomas.

It was a disappointing end to a disap-pointing performance from the RGCside, particularly given their brightstart.

They will look forward to next Sat-urday’s game v Blackwood at EiriasParc to get their season back ontrack.

Saturday,3rdJanuary,2015RGC86vBlackwood0

Following report kindly supplied byRob Griffiths, North Wales Daily Post

Phil Davies was a happy man afterwatching his side run in 14 unan-swered tries in a demolition job ofBlackwood, but insists bigger tests lieahead.

Davies had called on his side to showa reaction to last weekend’s loss atPontypool, and he got that and moreas RGC ran out 86-0 winners.

It could have been a three-figurescore, such was the level of domi-nance shown by the men in black atParc Eirias, and Davies was pleasedwith the professional manner his sideshowed.

“We paid Blackwood a lot respect inthe build-up and we paid them a lot ofrespect in the way we played for 80minutes,” said Davies.

“That was something we talked tothe players about, and I was pleasedbecause while you can only play whois in front of you, the basics of thegame, catching, passing, our breakdown work, the execution, our set playis improving, so it was good improve-ments all round.

“When we had to defend we defendedokay, so I was just pleased that theintensity that we have been workingon over the past five or six weeks isstarting to show.

“The next game now is Neath (in theSwalec Cup this weekend) which willbe tough. We will make a few chang-es and try to refresh a few people andthe squad by giving them a break fromtraining here, so they have all had in-dividual training plans which they willbe working on at their own venues,because still there are a lot of playerswho have to travel an hour and a halfor two hours to get here.

“That was more like it, but for me thereaction has got to come in our firstaway game which is next week atNeath.

“We had a good reaction, the crowdhere are fantastic and the support-ers are great, but the boys are verycomfortable here.

“But they have got to be comfortablebeing uncomfortable, and that is awayfrom home which is something we

have got to get better at. So this isa good feeling, but they have got tobuild on it.”

Davies added there could be moreto come from the North Wales outfitheading towards the end of the sea-son.

He added: “The most pleasing thingwas the way we did things and theintensity that we did them at, that wasthe most important thing for me.

“Credit to Blackwood I thought theycontinued to play and it is not easy onthe third of January coming to NorthWales, but they came and they hada go and I am sure they will learn abit from the game. But it was a goodperformance from us.

“It is a good scoreline and the way wewere playing and the execution of howwe were doing things, it was going togive us that score – everything feelspretty good.

“We have got two away games on thebounce so next week will be a regen-eration week really, and then we playNeath and then we are back into ourroutines for the Bargoed game. It iskeeping building and seeing wherethe season takes us.”

RGC took the lead as early asthe second minute as winger TomBlackwell scored the first of his fourtries, before full-back Afon Bagshawcrossed on 12 minutes to double thetally.

The home side were helped by a sin-binning to Joe Phelps, the Blackwoodsecond-row ‘accidentally’ catching theball while retreating from an offsideposition after Harri Evans had carvedthe visitors open and been hauleddown short of the line.

A man down it got harder for Black-wood as Andy Williams was creditedwith a try as the pack drove over,before Blackwell added his second forthe bonus point on the half-hour mark.

He then strolled in for his hat-tricktwo minutes later with fellow wingerRichard Hopkins adding a sixth try be-fore the break, Rhodri Carlton Jonesconverting four of the six as RGC ranin 38-0 up at the interval.

At the start of the second half thehosts went further ahead, Evans dot-ting down after Maredydd Francis tookthe restart and fed Tiaan Loots, whobroke free and sent his centre partnerclear to score.

Kelvin Davies came up with the ballfrom a driving maul as the home sidepack were rolling all over their op-ponents, while Blackwell added hisfourth, before two quick tries fromBagshaw as the full-back and wingerfinished off some flowing movesinvolving Loots, Evans, Carlton Jonesand Hopkins.

Skipper Davies touched down for hissecond try of the afternoon, beforeWilliams added his second followinga great burst up the middle by hookerEvan Yardley, while the last act of theday was reserved for Andy Bastonto dive on the ball as the pack wona scrum against the head and themakeshift back-row had the easiest ofscores. James Lang, who came on forthe impressive Carlton Jones, enjoyedbetter luck with the kicking tee as heslotted four out of five attempts towrap up a convincing win.

Phil Davies: “It is a goodscoreline and the way we wereplaying and the execution ofhow we were doing things, itwas going to give us that score– everything feels pretty good.’

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

Saturday,10thJanuary,2015Neath26vRGC32

Following report kindly supplied byRob Griffiths, North Wales Daily Post

RGC assistant-coach Josh Leach putSaturday’s historic Welsh Cup vic-tory at mighty Neath down to strongdefence.

The North Wales side recorded thebiggest triumph in their three-yearhistory as they turned over the six-time Welsh Cup winners 32-26 at TheGnoll.

“The game was won with our defence- and that is one of the things we havebeen working hard on in training overthe past few weeks,” said Leach.

“We knew we had the ability to winagainst a team at Premiership leveland today we proved it.

“I think we showed some defiancein our defensive work – which wasclearly shown in the lead-up to thesecond try from Tom Blackwell.”

It was RGC’s first win against Pre-miership opposition and a debutvictory in the Swalec Cup followingeliminations at the hands of EbbwVale and Swansea in the past twoseasons.

The Gogs opened the scoring aftersome early pressure with a JamesLang penalty. The home side hit backwith a try from Alex Humfrey.

Afon Bagshaw and Richard Hopkinswere looking lively when they hadthe ball, and it was clear the visitorswanted to run it at every opportunity.

It was the boot of Dafydd Howellsthat added to the Neath lead with apenalty before Lang replied with athree-pointer.

The RGC defence was being tested tothe full and to a man they worked hardat the breakdown.

Neath’s back-line were trying to breakthe gain line with darting runs fromAshley Evans and Howells, but RGCpicked up the turnovers at vital times.

Another penalty from Wales Under-20s fly-half Howells then made it 11-6to the Welsh All-Blacks.

Lang missed a penalty but it was notlong before the Gogs picked up theiropening try.

RGC worked the scrum well beforeBlackwell ran in score.

As half time approached Neath madea break down the wing and to thesurprise of most people at The Gnoll,Dean Howell was given a try by thereferee when it looked like his footwas well in touch. The home sidewent into the turnaround 16-11 ahead.

It was always going to be a big sec-ond half for RGC and when Neathwere reduced to 14 men with a yellowcard they were given an opportunityto close the gap, but Lang pushed apenalty wide.

However, RGC then edged aheadwhen Leach and Andrew Williamsmade a break before Evan Yardleyburst through the defence to groundby the posts. Lang converted to makeit 18-16.

The home fans were starting to getrestless as the hosts struggled tobreak through the RGC line.

Tiaan Loots and Blackwell were mak-ing some big tackles when it lookedlike the home side were going toscore.

As the game nudged towards the 60-minute mark, things turned in RGC’sfavour.

The Premiership team worked 14phases as they camped on the Gogsline before the travellers worked theturnover.

The ball was spun wide to with asuperb pass by Lang and Blackwelldid the rest. The winger ran 60 yards,evading a tackler and stepping insidewith pace to score a fantastic try.

It was the RGC speedster’s sixth try intwo games, Lang supplying the extrasfor a 25-16 lead.

Neath landed a penalty quickly toclose the gap before RGC claimed afourth try.

Richard Hopkins hit the gain line be-fore timing a pass perfectly for Bag-shaw to sprint under the posts.

The whole team, including the sub-stitutes, surrounded the Wales U20splayer, clearly showing how much thatscore meant to everyone. Lang’s bootadded another two points for 32-19.

The final 10 minutes were all aboutdigging in for the North Walians andworking hard at the breakdown.

Neath were looking to their pack todo some damage and when RGC’sBryn Williams was yellow-carded for adeliberate knock-on, The Gnoll crowdnoise picked up.

A score was given to the hosts viaa penalty try after pressure from theforwards and the tension built on andoff the pitch.

RGC stuck to the job in hand, stoodstrong in defence and won a couple ofpenalties to clear the danger.

When the ball was kicked out at thefinal whistle the RGC celebrationson the pitch will be remembered byeveryone involved.

A truly magnificent day for NorthWales rugby.

Neath v RGC: Pictures by Alan Skeates

Pictures and report by Gary Williams

Aberavon Schools U15 12v RGC East U15 18

A great win on the road for the RGC East youngsters.Many thanks to Andy Edwards for supplying the photos.

A great effort by COBRA’s players who completed the Three Welsh Peaks in 24 hours challenge. The pictureshows some of the players presenting the cheque to Kaye Derwas of the Marie Curie Trust.

COBRA raise £3000 for Marie Curie Trust

SWALEC PLATE 2014-2015 QUARTER FINAL

To be played the weekend of 28thMarch 2015

Skewen v Nant ConwyPenlan v PenalltaYstrad Rhondda v LoughorNewcastle Emlyn v Aberystwyth

SWALEC BOWL 2014-2015ROUND 5

Games to be played on 21st February,2015

Burry Port or Ystradgynlais v Colwyn BayNantyfyllon v Lampeter TownLlangefni v YnysdduNantymoel v YnysowenCambrian Welfare v AberaeronOakdale or Aberbargoed v Swansea UplandsCwmavon v Tonyrefail or TreharrisCefn Coed or Abercarn v Caerleon

SWALEC Cup Round 2(games to be played weekend ofFebruary 21)

RGC v Cross KeysBedwas/ Pontypool v Cardiff MetTata Steel v NewportCarmarthen Quins v Bridgend AthleticLlandovery v SwanseaLlanharan v Cardiff/ BridgendMerthyr v Newbridge

The Junior Section is look-ing for a new fixture secretaryfollowing the decision of SianDavies to stand down due toother commitments. The JuniorSection would like to thank Sianfor her hard work over the lastfew seasons and wish her allthe best for the future.

If you have some free time andwould like to give somethingback to the club or indeed justhelp out we would be verygrateful for your assistance.Please contact the Junior Sec-tion Chairman, Adam John-stone, on 07918 039906.

Congratulations to Welshpool’s JuniorAcademy Director, Barry Williams,who won the coveted Coach of theYear Award at the MontgomeryshireSports Awards, heldrecently at Theatr Hafren, Newtown.

The club were also nominated for theClub of the Year Award but unfortu-nately didn’t manage to bring somemore silverware home.

In February and March, The TorchTheatre Company will present andtour a one-man show based on the lifeof rugby legend and cultural icon RayGravell.

In February and March, The TorchTheatre Company will present andtour a one-man show based on the lifeof rugby legend and cultural icon RayGravell. The show will include twoperformances at Galeri, Caernarfonon 2-3 March.

Raymond ‘Ray’ William Robert Gravellwas a Welsh rugby union centre whoplayed club rugby for Llanelli RFC. Atinternational level, Gravell earned 23caps for Wales and was selected forthe 1980 British Lions tour to SouthAfrica. In his later career, he becamea respected broadcaster and occa-sional actor. Then In October 2007Gravell, a man who for many embod-ied what it is to be Welsh, passedaway aged 56, after succumbing tocomplications resulting from contract-ing diabetes. Known to millions for hislegendary exploits on the rugby field,‘Grav’ was and is so much more thanthat. An actor, a cultural icon, a father,a husband, a man with a life packed

full of stories that deserve to be heardonce more.

Written by Owen Thomas, Grav theplay has been written with the bless-ing of Mari, Ray’s widow, and con-tributions from his Welsh and BritishLions team mates.

Performed by Gareth Bale (The IndianDoctor, High Hopes, Pobol Y Cwm,Richard Parker, Bedroom Farce,Boeing Boeing, Neville’s Island, Up‘n Under, Bouncers), Grav will remindthe world once more of a unique lifewell lived.

Grav is on at Galeri for on Monday[02.03.15] and Tuesday [03.03.15] at19:30. Tickets [£9 | £7] are availableonline at galericaernarfon.com or fromthe Box Office on 01286 685 222.Presentationto

AustinThomasatNWRUCmeetingPictured right is Tony Gray, Presidentof the NWRUC presenting a clock toAustin to recognise the many years ofhard work that Austin did whilst beingthe WRU Community Rugby Managerfor North Wales.

The presentation took place prior tothe recent NWRUC meeting at ParcEirias. Also in the picture (far right) isDai Davies, Chairman of the NWRUC

Please send all your newsitems to gwcymru1@aol.com

WRUNEWS

WOMENS RUGBY

Wales have narrowly missed automat-ic qualification for the Women’s RugbyWorld Cup 2017.

Report and picture by Welsh RugbyUnion.

Wales finished eighth in this year’sWomen’s World Cup held in France.

We now know what is required forqualification in the next World Cupand so there is now a huge focus onthe forthcoming Six Nations campaign

World Rugby has confirmed the quali-fication process for the next Women’sRugby World Cup, which sees the topseven teams from Women’s RugbyWorld Cup 2014 automatically qualify,meaning reigning champions England,Canada, France, Ireland, New Zea-land, USA and Australia are confirmedfor the 2017 tournament.

Wales finished eighth in this year’sshowpiece tournament in Paris whichnow leaves Rhys Edwards’ side withtwo avenues of qualifying for 2017.

The two best ranked Six NationsWomen’s teams (outside of those

teams already qualified) from thecombined results of the 2015 and2016 Women’s tournaments willqualify which means Wales, Scotlandand Italy will be fighting it out over thenext two campaigns.

The lowest ranked side in the Wom-en’s Six Nations (combined 2015 and2016 results and outside of the teamsalready qualified) and the RugbyEurope Women’s champion will thencontest a home/away playoff match.

“We now know what is required forqualification in the next World Cupand so there is now a huge focus onthe forthcoming Six Nations cam-paign,” said Edwards.

“The Dubai Sevens was a real eye-opener for some of the girls wherethey discovered exactly what it takesto perform at the highest level.

Hopefully they can learn from that andtake those experiences into the SixNations where we need to focus forthe full 80 minutes in each and everygame to get over the finish line ingames we have just let slip over thepast couple of occasions.

“The way the games have fallen inthis year’s Six Nations, we’ve gotevery chance of getting some goodresults,” added Edwards.

“We begin at home in Swanseaagainst an England side which willprobably have quite a few changesbefore travelling to Scotland andFrance before taking on Ireland athome before completing the campaignin Italy.”

Head of Rugby World Cup Alan Gilpinsaid: “The record-breaking success,appeal and excitement of Paris 2014underscored just why women’s rugbyis one of the world’s fastest-growingteam sports.

“We’re happy that the qualificationprocess for the 2017 tournament isrobust and will ensure the 12 bestteams in the world will be competing.”

The tournament, which was won byEngland in Paris last August, willmove to 2017 to maximise synergywith the Olympic and Rugby WorldCup Sevens cycles. The event willreturn to a four-year cycle after 2017.

Waleswomen-focusnowonSixNations

WOMENS RUGBY

WRUSuperCupstartsthisweekend

Following match report kindly suppliedby Eifion Harding.

Mor braf oedd cael gweld y genodyn cael y sylw dyledus am unwaithar faes Pant Carw, Nos Fercher.Cymerodd bron i ddeugain o genodran mewn gem hynod gystadleuolo’r cychwyn hyd at y chwiban olaf.‘Roedd strwythur pendant i’r gem a’rdyfarnwr Mr John Roberts yn lliwio ycyfan yn ddyheug dros ben.

Nant agorodd y sgorio gyda hyrddiadcryf ar yr ochr dywyll yn dod a chaisi Ruby Roberts. Yn gyffredinol ‘roeddy tim cartref ychydig yn gryfach yngorfforol na’i gwrthwynebwyr ond pangyrhaeddodd y bel ddwylo medrusSara Fflur Jones yr asgellwrai,g bu i’wchyflymder dwyllo pawb nes ei gweldyn sgorio cais ardderchog i ddod arsgor yn gyfartal.

Nodwedd i’w chanmol yn fawr oeddsafon y taclo o du pawb a’r ysbryd ychwaraewyd y gem ynddo. Manteisioar bel yn adlamu oddi ar un o amd-diffynwyr Bala wnaeth Cari Jones igael yr ail gais gyda un o’r prysuraar y cae, Heledd Roberts yn llwyddogyda’r trosiad.

Cyn yr hanner sicrhaodd bylchiad achyflymder Sara Roberts fod cais i’whenw yn y gornel.

Rhaid canmol Bala yn arw am ddan-gos dycnwch yn ystod yr ail hannergan y medrai y gem fod wedi myndallan o’i gafael wedi i bel rydd adlamuyn lwcus i ddwylo Lea Thomas i’w gal-luogi i sgorio pedwerydd cais Nant.

O’r pwynt hwnnw bu’r gystadleuaethyn ffyrnig am bob pel rhydd a meddwlchwim Sara Fflur Jones oedd eto arwaith pan yn dewis cymryd cic gosbsydyn ac yna gweu ei ffordd i’r linellgais i roi pump pwynt haeddiannoliawn i’r ymwelwyr.

Gobeithio yn fawr y bydd hyn yn gych-wyn ar gyfres o gemau tebyg ar gyfergenod o amrywiol oedrannau yma yny Gogledd. Profwyd fod digon o dalentyn bodoli ond cael gwirfoddolwyr eg-niol i roi y cyfle iddynt. Llongyfarchiad-au i’r holl chwaraewyr boneddigaidd adiolch i Miss Teleri Davies a Mr EurosJones o du Bala a Miss Elin Royle aMiss Cenin Eifion o’r Nant am sicrhaufod cynifer wedi cerdded ar ac oddi ary cae gyda gwen lydan.

It was pleasing to see nearly fortygirls compete with such enthusiasmfrom start to finish at Pant Carw onWednesday evening. The game haddistinctive structure with referee MrJohn Roberts steering proceedingsastutely.

Nant opened the scoring with a strongblind side charge by Ruby Roberts.In general the home side were a littlephysically stronger but when the ballreached the capable winger Sara FflurJones she showed a surprising turnof speed to leave defenders trailing inorder to score a fine individual effort toallow Bala to draw level.

The standard of tackling was arevelation throughout with the spiritof gamesmanship being maintainedconstantly. Cari Jones was able to

benefit from a spilt ball amongst theBala backs to score the second trywith totally committed Heledd Robertsadding the conversion. On approach-ing half time a break by Sara Robertscoupled by her pace, saw her scoreout wide.

Bala were to be congratulated for theircontinued commitment as the gamecould have gone out of their reachwhen a loose ball was pounced uponby Lea Thomas to score Nant’s fourthtry.

From this point onwards every ballwas fiercely contested with the quickthinking of Sara Fflur Jones onceagain to the fore when she took aquick tap penalty and weaved her wayto the try line to score a fully deservedtry for the visitors.

Hopefully this game could be the trig-ger to promote a number of possibleencounters at various age groups forgirls throughout the North. There isobviously an abundance of talent ifsuitable volunteers can be ensured togive them the opportunity.

Congratulations to all the players anda special thanks to Miss Teleri Daviesand Mr Euros Jones of Bala and MissElin Royle and Miss Cenin Eifion ofNant who ensured that so many tookto and left the field of play with such abroad smile.

If you are in charge of a Ladies/Girls team at your club, pleasesend in your news togwcymru1@aol.com for inclusionin future issues of The Oval Zone.

GIRLS RUGBY

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