SOLID SEASIDERS BATTER BADGERS

Pontyclun 5-16 Penarth (HT 5-9)

While last week’s comfortable home win against Clwb Rygbi signalled a lively return to form, this visit to 2^nd-placed Pontyclun was expected to be a completely different sort of test. The Badgers were co-favourites for promotion after a storming start to the season, scoring 43 tries in ten games, exceeding 30 points in six of these, including their 39-12 defeat of Penarth at the Athletic Field in October.

So much for form, then. Coach Matt Bolton sent the team out with firm instructions to compete for everything and the Seasiders simply went out and did just that. Pressure was exerted from the kick-off and Pontyclun could barely lay a hand on the ball for ten minutes.

However, when the Badgers did gain possession, they shipped it quickly wide to right wing Sam Davies, who showed us what his team were all about by accelerating smoothly from half way to score in the corner. But that was as good as it got for the hapless hosts. Penarth completely dominated the remaining 70 minutes.

Pontyclun didn’t know what hit them, sometimes quite literally. A storming follow-up from George Roberts won a penalty after 20 minutes, which Josh Hurley coolly converted and, in the second quarter, it was only handling errors by the visitors that allowed the Badgers to play any part in the game at all. Hurley added another two penalties before half-time for a 9-5 lead at the break.

With the wind at their backs in the second half, the Badgers took to kicking long for field position, but got no change out of the Seasiders with that tactic either. The problem was that despite having the upper hand in all aspects of the game, Penarth weren’t actually getting much in the way of rewards and had to settle for pounding away in the home side’s own half. Their patience was exemplary and it took them until the 68^th minute to be allowed enough continuity to extend their lead.

Spencer Robinson had been bringing his usual urgency to proceedings throughout, but as yet another scrum was driven to the line, he made the decisive intervention. Driving towards the posts with several defenders in close attendance, instead of going to ground, he pivoted with the ball above his head and found centre Owain Lord in support, who crashed over from 5 metres for the try. Hurley converted for a 16-9 lead.

Pontyclun belatedly realised that their ambitions had shrunk to chasing a losing bonus point. As they trailed by 11 points, only a try would suffice, but they were still having trouble getting out of their own half. They finally managed this in the last minute, only for an attacking line-out on the Seasiders’ 22m line to be overthrown and booted into touch.

Next Saturday brings Penarth up against 9^th-placed Old Illtydians for the first time this season. The Illts made a solid start to their campaign with four straight wins, but have only a solitary win against bottom club Cardiff Quins to their credit in the last six. In the corresponding fixture last season, the Seasiders registered a thumping 50-22 win, with a Matt Allen hat-trick of tries taking pride of place in an eight-try total.

PENARTH:

Rhys Morgan ©, George Roberts, Owain Lord, Rhys Beynon, Josh Hurley, James Docherty, Spencer Robinson, Harry Wood, Mason Good, Alan Doyle (Geraint Williams), Andy Lang, Alex Shore, Thaine Baker, Miles Jones, Richie Bowen

Scorers:  Owain Lord (try), Josh Hurley (3 penalties, one conversion).

Boxing Day rugby – keeping the tradition alive!

Bolton XV 22 v 22 Morgan XV

By Chris Thau

This was one of those rare occasions in rugby, when the two sides got engaged in combat with a smile on their faces, yet determined to apply the basic rules of rugby warfare by making no allowance for the previous’ day indulgence. The Boxing Day match between Matt Bolton’s XV and Rhys Morgan’s men, was fast and furious from the moment go, with the 50-odd participants tackling each other with relish, while attacking with the ball in hand at every opportunity. It was very much a huge family reunion, with fathers and sons, brothers and cousins, veterans and newcomers, former players and stars of the future joining the entertainment. “This reminded me of my senior debut back in 1964, in the Boxing Day match, while I was still a Youth players,” Club President John Davey recalled. “This was a fixture that started just before the Second World War, so for us, fulfilling it was a matter of keeping the tradition alive. It is a great occasion, producing a fabulous mix of players, young and old, friends and family members,” he added.

Bolton’s men, helped by some searching runs from former captains Alex Thau and Tom Luck, with the young guns Harry Williams, George Roberts and Spencer Robinson adding pace, guile and dash, looked as if they were going to run away with the game. Somehow, the generous Christmas spirit that reigned on the day helped even the odds by allowing Morgan’s troopers to battle their way back into the game, to snatch an improbable, yet thoroughly deserved draw, with the two sides scoring four tries and one conversion each. “At the beginning it felt that the match was getting a bit pear-shaped and we were in for a right thrashing” said scrum-half Tom Parkinson, also a wicket keeper with the Penarth cricket team and captain of the club’s second hockey XI. “But then, the anticipated disaster did not materialise, as we fought our way back into the game, and levelled the score,” he added

“I have never had such fun in my whole career,” said former Penarth and Cardiff lock forward Jason Allen, who started alongside his teenage son Ryan for Morgan’s XV. “I just went down with the ball in a tackle and hoped that support would materialise, when I saw Ryan on top, locking the ruck, like in a team practice. Absolutely superb,” said Allen senior who is one of the coaches of a highly successful Penarth Youth team. “I remember how I started playing alongside my late dad Ken in a festive match at Dinas Powys, many years ago,” added Allen.

“It was great fun. So nice to play with the boys after two years,” confirmed former Penarth and Wales U20 backrower Owen Lloyd, who is currently studying for a sports science degree at Loughborough University. “It was brilliant to play with the boys again” confirmed Morgan Humphreys, a former Youth player, nowadays a talented club cricketer, who had joined rugby club regulars Miles Jones and George Roberts on the touchline. “If you think of it, this was very much a nice mix of rugby, cricket and hockey players, which is what an Athletic club is all about”, Spencer Robinson observed.

“I loved every minute of it! It was great fun. We enjoyed it on the field and the crowd responded in kind from the touch line”, said prop emeritus and former skipper Richard Merrett, who together with Matt Bolton and young Harry Wood formed an impressive front-row unit. However, neither them, nor the opposite trio of Dai Morgan (one of the Youth coaches), Gary Power, a former club captain and hooker and young Geraint Williams, had many opportunities to lock horns with Bolton’s men, simply because referee Chris Hunt, very much in the spirit of the day, allowed the game to flow, rather than penalise every infringement. As the time wore on, more front rowers took the field, including the current Penarth regulars, Alan Doyle, Rhys Jones, Mason Good as well as Lloyd Ellis and Jerome Bryan, not to mention the young Rhys Newman, the grandson of club legend Paul and son of Mike, the third generation Newman to wear Penarth colours. “The referee made all the difference. He has got a great sense of humour and entered the spirit of the occasion”, said Doyle.

“In fairness the ref did a great job. He is a farmer in Chepstow and had to get up very early to milk 500 cows before coming to Penarth for an early noon kick-off,” said rugby fixture secretary Peter Docherty who is also a fine cricketer and Chairman of the Cricket section, and played a big part in organising the fixture. His son James Docherty, the rugby club’s secretary, made a rare appearance at No.8 a move away from his regular number 10 spot. The 10 shirt was filled by former club fly-half Gareth Davies, a top Fleet Street journalist by trade (Breaking News Editor with the Telegraph), who was watched with legitimate pride by his father, the former Penarth hooker Phil Davies.

Another club official to make a cameo appearance was Director of Rugby Paul Williams, a former Neath and Penarth player and coach, who was a member of the successful 1989 Welsh Schools touring side, the last Welsh team to have the better of their New Zealand counterparts in an international.

The game was a delightful melange of holiday rugby and fun that entertained the sizeable crowd, probably the biggest at the Athletic Field, since Good Friday, the other major crowd pleaser of Penarth rugby faithful. Similar to Good Friday rugby, the Boxing Day match is part of the Penarth rugby DNA and the unanimous verdict of both participants and spectators at the end of the match was sheer delight. “Absolutely superb! Let’s have more of this!” was the verdict of former Penarth players Matt Sutton, Louis Chandler and Rhys Goodfellow. The presence of 30-year old Rhys Goodfellow, who had recently undergone lung and liver transplant at the Queen Elisabeth Hospital in Birmingham, was particularly moving, as the two neighbouring Penarth clubs had organised a series of auctions and raffles to help raise funds for his aftercare.

“In many ways”, says skipper Rhys Morgan, “other than the presence of the club’s former players, this abundant turnover is a consequence of the club’s successful recruitment campaign, which includes the integration of the new boys, joining us from a very productive Youth section as well as the development of a full fixture list for the Seconds. The new boys have been brilliant. They have all joined into the spirit of the club and have really added to the whole atmosphere, both on and off the field.

The 2nds have also had a huge impact on the club as a whole. Boys are getting games week in week out, which boosts training numbers massively, and pushes the boys in the first team. We have a lot of options now in certain positions which can only be a good thing. We’ve had a few narrow losses which were disappointing. But overall we can be happy with how the season has gone so far. A few tweaks here and there and the future could be promising.”

Penarth RFC: Welcome Barbarians, farewell Warren Gatland!

The choice of the Penarth seafront Esplanade Hotel as the headquarters of the nomadic club for its South Wales tour is widely credited as the catalyst in making the Seaside Town the host of the Barbarians tour opener on Good Friday. It was rumoured at the time that Ralph Bond Sweet-Escott of Cardiff and Wales, one of the Barbarian FC founders, a Penarth resident and son of Rev Sweet-Escott,  had something to do with the decision to choose Penarth as the base for the wandering tribe. This is something we will never know for sure, however, what we will always know is that from 1901, for the following seventy-odd years the Penarth Esplanade Hotel (“The Esp”) became the place the Barbarians called Home. Long before the advent of television the Barbarians exposed the rugby-hungry Wales to a brand of uninhibited running rugby, full of dash and creativity, which may explains, to a large extent, the deep affection of the Welsh public for the Barbarians club and its carefree approach to the game.

The advent of professionalism before the end of the 20^th century had all but ended the playing relationship between the Barbarians and their Welsh club hosts including Penarth, but the Corinthian undertones of the Barbarians spirit seemed to have survived the break, shining brightly during the recent public training sessions at the Rec in Penarth, when the players and coaches, both men and women, fraternised with cohorts of local admirers..

Several hundred people, in majority schoolchildren from the Town’s schools, turned up to watch the Barbarians train at Penarth, while over 60,000 fans bought tickets to watch the first ever double-header of the Welsh men and women teams, hosting their Barbarian counterparts at the National Stadium. And in addition to all that there was an opportunity for the country’s passionate rugby folks to say a fond farewell to Warren Gatland, the man who guided Wales for the past 12 years and three world cups, as well as welcome the new man in charge Wayne Pivac.

The game has changed beyond recognition, and for the youngsters in Penarth the Barbarians visit offered a unique opportunity to see, talk and befriend some of the legends of the game, something only their parents and grandparents could do some 30-40 years ago. On the other hand it was hugely rewarding for the players themselves, to rediscover the bond between them and the ordinary supporters, something increasingly absent from today’s highly regulated professional rugby. And then it was the ladies Barbarians, at their first visit to Penarth, warmly welcomed by the locals, enjoying a full-day hospitality provided by the Seaside club, with the food, described by one of the visitors “as absolutely delicious,” prepared by the local firm Wilmores (Charlotte and Matt). The Penarth club Secretary James Docherty presented Gatland with a club tie and a copy of the club history “The Spirit of Penarth” an appropriate memento that it is “the spirit of the game” that counts after all.

To be honest, we at the club are hugely honoured by the visit of all these superstars and their coaches Warren Gatland and Robbie Deans. I must mention the warmth and generosity of Warren Gatland and thank him for the time he spent with the fans, so much that he nearly missed the team bus. He is a real gentleman, a credit to the game and will be sorely missed by all in Wales.” Mr Docherty said.

“The fact that these rugby superstars not only put on such a great show for the kids who turned up in such terrible weather, but then spent time to chat, sign autographs and pose for selfies was a true reflection that the spirit of Barbarians is alive and kicking. I must also say a huge thank you to the staff and parents of Victoria, Albert Road, Cogan, Westbourne, Llandough, Penygarth, St Cyres and Stanwell schools for arranging for the children to be able to enjoy such a wonderful spectacle. In this respect, the arrival of the Barbarian Women’s team in Penarth ads another page to the centennial history of the Baa-baas in Penarth and the fact that the young schoolgirls of Penarth were able to see and talk to these great role models, of the likes of Jo Yapp and Rachel Taylor, will hopefully inspire many of them to pick up the oval ball and enjoy this great game of ours,” Mr Dochety added.

This is how former Wales captain Claud Davey describes the special bond between Welsh rugby and the Barbarians: “My career as a rugby player would not have been complete if I had not played for the Barbarians…” Undoubtedly, the late Barbarians club President Micky Steele-Bodger, would have agreed with him wholeheartedly. Sadly Micky passed away in May, a few months before he was 93. A fair inning one would say, though for some of us, a Barbarian tour without the irrepressible Steele-Bodger in charge doesn’t feel quite right. He was very fond of the Penarth club and made an effort to come to open the club exhibition “Penarth and the Barbarians”, which he described as magnificent. This is what he had to say about the Barbarians Easter tour:

“For us the Barbarians Easter tour was an absolute blessing. There were no international tours at the time, and the Lions tours were quite infrequent, so the Barbarians were the next best thing after the Lions…..There had been nothing like that before in our lives. It was new and exciting. You wanted to be there, and you behaved yourself, because you wanted badly to be invited again. On the other hand, though the standard was very high, there was not so much pressure as it was when playing for England” he said.

SEASIDERS HOLD THEIR NERVE

Cardiff Quins 20-27 Penarth (HT 10-12)

The Quins have had a terrible start to their season and may even think they were robbed. On the other hand, a patently superior Penarth outfit were a bag of nerves, tried way too hard, but still managed to get away with another bonus point win, rising to third in the table.

Overall, the game was a bonanza for yellow-card aficionados and while there were few moments of high drama, the Seasiders were, as usual, playing all the rugby,

Quins couldn’t get out of their own half in the first quarter, but as soon as a couple of missed tackles had allowed them this luxury, they were 3-0 and a man up as Penarth shipped the first yellow of the afternoon.

Alex Shore, despite ruling the line-out as usual, was getting penalised for stealing it on Quins’ throw and a steady supply of penalties gave the hosts field position and outside centre R Thomas scored a neat try to put his side 10-0 ahead.

The Seasiders’ frustration was beginning to show, but at least they channelled this into an irresistible maul, which was halted only by Quins’ lock S Harwood coming in at the side and getting a yellow card for his trouble. A clearly determined Spencer Robinson tapped the penalty and forced his way to dotting the ball over the line despite there being about three defenders in attendance.

On the stroke of half-time, the pack repeated the dose by driving a maul from a line-out fully 30 metres, where Andy Lang was the scorer for a 10-12 lead at the interval.

Both sides made a poor start to the second half, but it was Penarth who edged further into the lead on 53 minutes after winning a turnover in their own 22. Lang and Harry Wood combined to take it deep into the Quins half, before the backs whipped it across towards the far touchline where Thaine Baker abandoned his own claim to a try by shipping it out to Harry Williams, who made sure of the score.

As the Seasiders emptied the bench, they were still adjusting to the changes as the Harlequins mounted a quick siege and number 8 Ben Morris scored to bring the scores level!

As the game drifted towards the final quarter in an avalanche of yellow cards and erratic Penarth pressure, it was almost outrageous that it was actually Quins who edged themselves in front with a penalty on 73 minutes.

Just when it was about to go wrong again for the Seasiders, the team took a collective deep breath and concentrated on the job in hand. A lengthy forward siege was going nowhere until the decision was made to ship it out to the backs. Harry Williams fielded the pass, but instead of trying to reach the line himself, drove a neat grubber through for George Roberts to score in the corner.

This time James Docherty expertly converted from touch to general celebration and went on to convert a further penalty on the stroke of full time.

This coming Saturday Penarth welcome 10^th placed Llanharan to the Athletic Field. The Dairy Field club have already registered an unlikely win here in the National Bowl, as the Seasiders conceded a barely credible three tries in the last 13 minutes as they apparently cruised to victory. Recent form suggests it ought to be different this time.

PENARTH:

Rhys Morgan ©, George Roberts, Harry Williams, Owain Lord, James Crothers (Ben Hill), James Docherty, Spencer Robinson, Harry Wood (Geraint Williams), Tom Griffiths (Mason Good), Alan Doyle, Andy Lang, Alex Shore, Richie Bowen (Hugh Leitch), Miles Jones, Thaine Baker

Scorers:  Spencer Robinson (try), Andy Lang (try), Harry Williams (try), George Roberts (try), James Docherty (2 conv, penalty).

Penarth fall to final kick

St Albans 27-25 Penarth (HT 14-13)

Following the previous weekends impressive victory against Tylorstown the trip to tremorfa Park to face newly promoted St Albans should have been a chance for Penarth to establish their credentials as real contenders in the division. However a see-saw game on a postage stamp pitch saw the lead change hands no less than 8 times with the telling contribution coming from the boot of the home teams outside half on the final whistle to deny Penarth what would have been a scrappy but important victory.

It had all started well for Penarth with a good kick return and some great work at the breakdown securing a penalty which James Docherty converted for an early lead. However the “Buns” are well known for their tenacious attitude and they built their way back into the game before squeezing over for a try in the left hand corner which was neatly converted.

Penarth responded with another Docherty penalty following a hugebreak from George Roberts before they retook the lead after a searing break down the right wing from centre Harry Williams off a well work scrum move put the Buns defence all at sea and as the ball was quickly recycled Docherty strolled over unopposed.

The Buns had the final say in the first half as they established a foothold in the Penarth 22 and launched repeated attacks. A final push following a big scrum saw the inside centre carve between the defenders to put the homes side ahead by 14-13 at the break.

Penarth started well in the second half with the scrum in particular starting to apply some pressure on the home side. But penalties conceded were a constant thorn in the visitors side which allowed the home team to take huge strides down the pitch and limit attacking opportunities. When Penarth finally managed to get back into the opposition 22 they went through the phases before Andy Richards broke free to score under the posts and restore the lead.

But it was not to last and first a penalty and then a try saw St Albans re-establish their lead at 24-20. Penarth then piled forward to try and secure victory and after a length encampment in the Buns half it was Tom Griffiths who acrobatically nipped in at the corner to score the try that put Penarth ahead with just 90 seconds left on the clock.

A safe catch and efficient exit would have been enough to seal victory but in slippy conditions the usually reliable Miles Jones saw the ball slide through his fingers to give the home side the put in at a scrum. The Penarth forwards were unable to repel the rampant Buns pack and a penalty was conceded with the last play of the game. The Buns outside half showed nerves of steel to step up and slot the kick to register a perfect 5/5 record and take the spoils for his team.

Penarth for their part will be disappointed with the result as they simply did not perform to the standards that they have set for themselves, particularly in attack where they looked panicked and disorganised, a far cry from the team who systematically took apart Tylorstown the week before. The coaches will expect a big improvement once league action returns following the World Cup final break as Penarth seek to cement their position in the upper echelons of the league.

Penarth: H Wood, M Good (T Griffiths), A Doyle, A Shore, M Allen, J Spragg (T Baker), R Bowen, M Jones, S Robinson, J Docherty, B Hill (J Crothers), A Richards (J Hurley), H Williams, G Roberts, R Morgan (c)

Scorers – J Docherty (t/2p/2c), A Richards (t), T Griffiths (t)