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05 September 2016 / Club News

Bargoed Briefs

It was good to see a decent crowd at Bargoed Park on Saturday for the Principality Premiership opener in atrocious conditions, with the Scrum V cameras also in attendance. The Bulls were unable to get their first win, cruelly losing out 13-10 with a late penalty, but will look to focus on the positives as they picked up a losing bonus point, and build on their excellent set piece platform as they travel to Llandovery RFC for the next challenge on the road.

There will be concerns over the fitness of stand in Captain Rhys Morgan, who left the field on Saturday and he joins Captain Lee Meades, Grant Rogers, Alex Gardner-Keys, Luke Dychoff and Lewis Wayman on the injured list. Hopefully the medics will do the business this week and some of these will be available for selection. Callum Jones and Matt Bancroft should also be available to add to the selection options.....and headaches!!

It was good to see some ex players coming along to lend their support on Saturday with Marc Gwilt, Stuart Powell, Jamie Howells, Gareth Lerwill and Gareth Richards from recent times all watching with interest, along with Roger Jones who represented Bargoed RFC in the 1970's.

The 2nd XV Warriors got an impressive victory at Beddau RFC 58-19 with new Coach Lee Pearson smiling after they played some good attacking rugby in very difficult conditions, with good performances from James Locke, Craig Wilson and wrecking ball Gareth Dare. Next week the Warriors have their first home game against Porth Harlequins RFC.Scorers were Kanye Greenslade 2, Lawson Perry, Craig Wilson, Gareth Dare, Matthew McGovern, Phil Price, Duane Dwyer and Chris Mapps. Phil price five conversions and a penalty.

Dave Coughlan

All at Bargoed RFC would like to give their condolences to the family and friends after the passing of old friend Dave Coughlan of Seapoint RFC in Ireland earlier this week. Dave was a true rugby man, and hugely respected over in Ireland, having volunteered for many years to promote rugby across the Leinster province. He was also well respected and a good friend of Bargoed RFC and had visited Bargoed a no. of times. He was instrumental in organising events when Bargoed RFC toured to Ireland, and played Seapoint RFC in 2004, where we had a fantastic welcome. Rest in peace old friend.

'Bargoed Youth on the learning curve'

Bargoed Youth have been working really hard over the summer pre-season period in preparation for what should be an exciting year for all of the club. The players have been working extremely hard under the guidance of Coaches Gerry Jones, Scott Morgan, Gavyn Lynch and Team Manager Graham Mayo. There is some real talent in this group with 90% of the squad moving up from under 16's rugby last season, to join the players who are still in the squad from last season, and still eligible to play Youth team rugby this season.

The Coaches have been working the boys hard and are looking to develop their strength and conditioning to play a high tempo attack focussed game. The sessions at Planet Fitness have certainly been paying off, as the Coaches look to build a team first mentality, and the boys have enjoyed the tough sessions, by working hard for each other.

They have already played a few pre-season friendlies against a couple of far more experienced sides and the boys have competed well. The Coaches are aware of the challenges, and have been pleased with the boys attitude in managing the transition into Youth team rugby, as they relish the physical challenges.

The pre-season games have certainly tested them with a solitary win against Ynysowen RFC 31-0. They were defeated in the other two pre season games against Tredegar 17-5 and Kenfig Hill 30-7, with both of these sides respectively in the Dragons and Blues Youth 'A' Leagues, but there plenty of positives from both defeats with the boys never say die attitude.

They played Tredegar for a second time on Saturday in a friendly and went down 21-3 but Coach Gerry Jones was again pleased with the efforts in difficult conditions, ' The boys dug in and showed great character against a side who had an older group of players, and were more experienced and a couple of leagues above us. There is a great team ethos building here, and we look forward to starting our Dragons league fixtures and continuing on our learning curve'

Next week the Youth Team are home to Pontypool Utd. Come along and support the boys!

The current 1st XV and 2nd XV squads both have a considerable number of players who have come through the development programme at Bargoed RFC, and the club are keen to ensure that this continues even though the 1st XV now play in the Principality Premiership.

Chairman Neil Carter stated 'The Youth team is vitally important to us here in Bargoed RFC. We are constantly striving to improve as a club both on and off the field, and these boys now have a great opportunity to showcase their talents on the field, and develop in a positive environment with good coaching and management. We are very pleased with how this group are developing and I'd like to thank the Coaching and Management Staff for all their hard work over the summer. It's exciting times for all at the club, and we're excited to see how these boys push on over the next few months. Our 1st XV may be playing in the Premiership, but we are very much focussed on ensuring we provide a quality rugby experience for all ages in our community, this is our club and our community'

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