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Women’s showdown at Llandarcythis SundayAll roads lead to Llandarcy Academy of Sport on Sunday withthe WRU Women’s Regional championship reaching its climax- report by WRU

The Ospreys are currently in the driving seat at the top of thetable with six points from two games but both the Blues and theScarlets are hot on their heels with four points and all three gointo the final round all harbouring realistic ambitions of title glory.

The Scarlets tackle the Dragons in the early game at 1pm andwill be looking to rattle up the points against a side which hasconceded the most points in the competition so far.

In what has been a vastly improved competition this season, theDragons have scored just three fewer points than the currentleaders but defence has proved their Achilles heel as they haveshipped nearly double what the Ospreys have.

The Ospreys are aiming for a third title on the trot but they aren’ttaking anything for granted as they prepare for battle against theBlues at 3pm, said team manager Ade Howells.

“We know the Blues will come at us with all guns blazing so it’sgoing to be tough,” he admitted.

“They are a very good side and have some very dangerous backswho can cause some real damage while they have some verygood forwards like No 8 Gemma Hallett so we will have to keepan eye on her.

“The fact that a good performance in front of the national selec-tors may earn a call up for the Six Nations is also an incentive andthat is something that may have been in the back of the players’minds but our real focus is performing as a team on Sunday andnot as individuals.

“We haven’t really clicked as a team in our previous games thisseason so hopefully Sunday will be the day everything clicksinto place and we can come away with a win. There are severalpermutations which could happen on the day so all three teams inwith a chance of winning the championship will be doing their bestto do so - that’s testament to the work all the sides have put inand can only be good for women’s regional rugby.”

Blues head coach Nadine Griffiths said that her side will give ittheir best shot despite being ravaged by injury.

“As a squad we are really looking forward to Sunday, everything isstill to play for. We are still struggling with a lot of injuries and NiaDavies’ injury last weekend will be a blow to us,” she said.

“Win or lose on the weekend as a management team we havehad a great time coaching the squad this year and are verypleased with the talent on show.”

WRU Women’s Regional ChampionshipLlandarcy Academy of Sport, Sunday 15 Dec1pm - Scarlets v Dragons3pm - Blues v Ospreys

GaryEditors: Gary Williams/Barry WilliamsEmail: gwcymru1@aol.com

www.nwru.co.ukwww.midwalesrugby.com

@ovalzonerugby

WRU ChampionshipBargoed v TonduBeddau v Cardiff MetBonymaen v RGC 1404Bridgend Athletic v NarberthLlanharan v Ebbw ValeNewbridge v PontypoolTata Steel v Blackwood

Swalec Plate Round 2Brecon v MerthyrBuilth Wells v TreorchyCaernarfon v RuthinDenbigh v Bro FfestiniogKidwelly v AberystwythNant Conwy v Bethesda

Swalec Bowl Round 3Colwyn Bay v LlandudnoWrexham v Menai BridgeLlangefni v MoldShotton Steel v WelshpoolTregaron v Fishguard

North Wales CupDolgellau v COBRA

Gwynedd CupPwllheli 2nds v Benllech - 2pm

WRU Division 3 NorthHarlech v Holyhead – 2pm

North Youth Division 1COBRA v BangorLlangefni v MoldNant Conwy v Wrexham - postPwllheli v DenbighRuthin v Bala

North Youth Division TwoAbergele v HolyheadBro Ffestiniog v NewtownColwyn Bay v Welshpool – postDolgellau v LlanidloesRhyl v FlintShotton v Llandudno

North Wales 2nd XV leagueBro Ffest 2nds v Denbigh 2nds

North East Counties LeagueCol Bay 2nds v Llandudno 2ndsMold 2nds v Wrexham 2ndsRhos 2nds v Flint 2ndsAbergele 2nds v Rhyl 2ndsShotton 2nds v Mold 3rdsWelshpool 2nds v COBRA 2nds- postponed

Please note that you shouldcheck with the home club thatthe above games is going ahead- The Oval Zone cannot be heldresponsible for any errors in thislisting.

COVER PICTUREThis week’s main cover picture shows action from theDolgellau v Denbigh game, kindly supplied by Rod Davies

GOT SOME PICS AND NEWS YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE- SEND TO gwcymru1@aol.com

Cwpan Eryryi Cup semi-final drawsannouncedThe draws for the Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16 Eryri Cupsemi finals have been made as follows:

(A Cup competition for Junior Rugby Teams in North West Wales)

(Semi finals draw undertaken by Emrys Jones, Chair of NorthWales Youth Rugby on Sunday, 8th December 2013 at ClwbRygbi Nant Conwy)

ALL matches to be played by SUNDAY, 16th MARCH 2014 latest.

Under 12Llangefni v CaernarfonPwllheli v Nant Conwy

Under 14Pwllheli v BangorColwyn Bay v Nant Conwy

Under 16Nant Conwy v BangorBro Ffestiniog v Llandudno

Gwynedd Cup Draw announcedThe draw for the Gwynedd Cup Competition was made recentlyand is as follows -

Bangor v Caernarfon 2ndsBethesda 2nds v Bro Ffestiniog 2ndsHarlech v Dolgellau 2ndsHolyhead v Menai BridgeNant Conwy 2nds v Bala 2ndsPwllheli 2nds v Benllech

Llangefni 2nds and Porthmadog both have byes in the 1st Round.

Games to be played before 31st December 2013.

Alex Schwarz makes his comeback after being out with a footinjury this season and Sean O’Rourke makes his RGC debut.

1. Joe Simpson- Bangor; 2. Mike Hall- Rhyl; 3.Thabiso Monongozulu- Academy; 4. Bryn Williams- Colwyn Bay;5. Sean O’Rourke - Academy; 6. Andy Williams- Caernarfon;7. Huw Worthington- COBRA; 8. Kelvin Davies- Llandudno;9. Alex Schwarz- Mold; 10. Lewis Barker- Mold;11. Carwyn Ap Myrddin- Nant Conwy; 12. Mike Jones- Ruthin;13. Harri Evans- Llandudno; 14. Llywarch Ap Myrddin- NantConwy; 15. Afon Bagshaw- Llandudno; 16. Joe Jones- Mold;17. Liam Leung- Caernarfon; 18. Adam Williams - Academy; 19.Rhodri Carlton-Jones- Llandudno; 20. Josh Leach- Colwyn Bay

RGC ran in 10 tries in animpressive game of runningrugby against Llanharan in a64-7 win.

They ran in 3 tries in theopening 10 minutes after AndyWilliams, Lewis Barker andJosh Leach all went over. HarriEvans and Lewis Barker weredangerous with ball in handevery time they attacked.

RGC were reduced to 14 menafter Josh Leach was givenoffside although it didn’t looklike the Gog’s were a mandown with Harri Evans spottinggaps in the visitors defence.The bonus point try came withTom Blackwell going in afterbeen set up by Evans who wasrunning the defence ragged.

The trademark power pack trycame from a lineout and theRGC forwards pushed overwith Kelvin Davies popping upwith the ball. As Josh Leachcame back on Kelvin Davieswas sin binned for an offsideto make it still a 14 man gamefor RGC.

Although all my notes areabout tries, attacks, quick of-floads Afon Bagshaw made atry saving tackle as the wingerchased down the line.

Llanharan did get the try after anumber of lineouts with LewisYoung scoring and CodeyRees converting.

Minute’s later Eirias crowd wason their feet after Harri Evansjinked, danced and skippedpast practically the whole Llan-haran side to get try number 6with Barker converting and a40 – 7 lead at half time.

The second half didn’t bring asmany tries but the RGC scrumwas dominating, with the RGCback still looking to run the ball.Huw Grundy should have beengiven a try but the referee saidknock on when it actually hitthe winner knee.

The game was held up for along time after Daffi Davies ofLlanharan suffered a severedislocation to his ankle, andwas treated with great care byLlanharan and RGC medicalstaff.

Tom Hughes scored for RGCunder the posts just aftercoming on and Rhodri CarltonJones converted. Another great

running try was finished byLewis Barker after he ran fromthe half way line after greatwork from Harri Evans andHuw Grundy.

It was soon followed by aLiam Leung score before HuwGrundy raced through for trynumber 10 and the whistlewent after a Carlton Jonesconversion.

The rugby played today wassome of the best we have seenall season for RGC and theplayers received a huge roundof applause by the crowd asthey were entertained to somegreat offloads and tries.

LLANHARAN VIEW..

The following report appearedon the Llanharan RFC web-site

Llanharan were torn apart bya rampant North Wales side atColwyn Bay.

The strangely listless Dairy-men allowed the home teamto repeatedly rip through theirranks.

Some speculated that thefive hour coach journey hadtaken its toll, quipping that theyhadn’t got off the bus, attract-ing the riposte from anotherthat they hadn’t even got on it!And to add to their woes an-other serious injury saw backrow man Dafi Davies stretch-ered off ten minutes from timeafter a long hold up.

The Blues Academy youngsterwas operated on in Glan Con-way Hospital on Sunday fora broken tibia and dislocatedankle.

One of the coaching team,Adam Rosser, accompaniedhim in the ambulance andDafi’s parents were due totravel up from Llantwit Major onSunday.

Head coach Matthew Lloydreports thatThe Blues immedi-ately took care of the arrange-ments to get the Wales Sevenssquad man back to SouthWales once discharged by thehospital and all at the club wishhim well.

The game itself was all over asa contest in just eight amazingminutes as RGC ran throughinept tackling to collect threetries from Bryn Williams, Lewis

Barker and Josh Leach. AfanBagshaw, Kelvin Davies andHarry Evans added to the listbefore half time, Llanharan’ssolitary reply a good numbereight effort from Lewis Youngas he drove over from a scrumfor Codey Rees to convert.Even two yellow cards award-ed against RGC did not stopthem attacking relentlessly, of-ten from their own twenty two.

With the score at 40-3 whenthe sides changed ends itcould only be a damage limita-tion exercise for Llanharan atthe impressive Eirias Stadium.And they did actually stem theflow, until Davies’s injury at theend of the third quarter seemedto produce another downturn,although the immediate re-sponse was to mess up a clearscoring chance in the cornerthrough a bad pass.

But there was no compassionfrom a sparkling home XVwho ran speedily skilfully withgood angles, and four moretries were accumulated in theclosing stages courtesy of TomHughes, Lewis Barker, LiamLeung and Huw Grundy.

Barker also collected fiveconversions for a twenty pointshaul, Rhodri Carlton-Jones get-ting the other two.

And if the disconsolate blackand blues are in need of a stiffchallenge to rally their spirits itwill come this Saturday whenundefeated Ebbw Vale are theirvisitors.

RGC Coach Josh Leachspoke to RGC Newsafter they ran in 10 triesin an impressive 64-7 winagainst Llanharan.

“Altogether it was one ofour best performancesthis year, and we were farmore clinical than we havebeen in the past whichgave us momentum in thegame”

“We had a talk after theBridgend Athletic game,and we were a bit toonegative in that matchperhaps kicking to early.So we looked to play moremaking sure we lookedafter the ball and with 10tries we were rewarded forour ambition”

RGC Coach JoshLeach praises bestperformance of theseason

Mike Hall picked up the Jones O Gymru andEden with Pencils Man of the Match awardafter his performance against Llanharan.

RGCNEWS

RGC 12 v Blues South 32

Rydal School’s Newfield Ground was the backdrop for RGCU16’s first home fixture of this season’s Age-Grade Championshipmatch, as they played host to Cardiff Blues South U16s.

From the kick-off, Blues played a basic smash-forward game andthe young Gogs looked totally out of place as the Blues ran in anopening try on the stroke of 2 minutes, leaving a simple kick forthe extras. From there the game gained in pace but both sides made almostperpetual errors, with possession continually switching. But with19 minutes on the clock, the young Gogs built up some steamand powered through the Blues defence; Efan Jones (Wrexham)finishing a superb run with an excellent try, and giving ArmaniRoberts (Wrexham) a chance to draw the scores level. An equallyexcellent conversion kick made it 7-7.

The rest of the first half reverted back to the errors and it lookedlike both sides were just one bad decision away from concedinganother score, but as the half came to its conclusion, it was Blueswho broke through with a last-ditch unconverted try.Half-time score: RGC 7, Blues South 12.

RGC looked brighter at the start of the second half and were themore threatening team in possession. But the Blues defence heldand on 43 minutes they ran in another smash-and-grab try; thewind and a poor kick denying them the conversion.

Within 2 minutes, the young Gogs had broken through again, andreplacement 2nd Row, Danny Evans (Dolgellau) crossed the linefor a deserved score to make it 12-17. Roberts failed with theconversion attempt, but from then on, as both sides rang in thechanges, it was RGC who failed to settle and failed to make theirtackles; allowing Blues to run in 3 unconverted tries and not keep-ing the possession long enough to make an impact of their own.

The time ran down with RGC once again looking most likely toscore, but penalties allowed the Blues to clear their lines and thegame closed with no further scores and a scoreline that flatteredthe visitors.

Llanelli Scarlets are the next visitors to North Wales, and theyoung Gogs will be preparing a warm welcome for them at ParcEirias on January 12th.

RGC U16 Development XV 5 points vCardiff Blues South U16 Development XV 29 pointsColwyn Bay RFC

RGC’s Development XV continued their journey in the regionalacademy competition with another learning experience againstCardiff Blues South.

As with the Dragons game two weeks previously, the RGC teambattled bravely and the game was more even than the final scoreline suggested. The Blues were more organised in defence andhad the clinical edge when it came to finishing their scoring op-portunities. The RGC team also had their chances but were lesscomposed in both defence and attack. With only 6 players in thestarting XV who had also played started against the Dragons,perhaps this was little surprise but it will improve as the squadcontinue to train and play together as a unit.

The first quarter saw the Gogs defending strongly and then enjoy-ing a period camped in the opposition 22 when they threaten toscore. The Blues managed to clear their lines and scored the firstconverted try of the game, against the run of play at the time. RGC struck back in impressive style 6 minutes before half time.Full back Gruff Roberts (Denbigh) fielded a kick in his own 22 andcut through the Blues defence making ground well into their half.Roberts was caught by the last Blues man but fly half Guto Pierce(Caernarfon) was in close support on the inside. Pierce took theball at pace and surged towards the try line only for him too tobe felled just short. The fly half popped the ball out of contact tocentre Jacob Hughes (Wrexham) who finished out a very wellexecuted counter attack with the try for RGC. Craig Higgins’(Shotton Steel) conversion attempt was narrowly wide and leftRGC trailing 5-7.

RGC cruelly then conceded a further converted try on the halftime whistle as the Blues 8 powered over under the posts from a5 metre scrum. The half time score was 5-14.

RGC continued to battle after the interval and held the Blues atbay for the third quarter of the game. Despite introducing thereplacements, the pace of the game started to tell on the Gogsand the Blues found gaps in the defence were they had resultedin a more one sided 5-29 scoreline than the RGC players effortdeserved.

The Development squad continue to show great promise and ifthis group of players continue to work hard with their coaches,they will see the rewards.

WRU CHAMPIONSHIP

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Phone 07713 514 375 fora free quotation.

Tim Hoare, WRU Coach Development Manager for NorthWales, visited Odessa in Ukraine last month to run an IRBLevel 2 coaching course.

I had a great welcome and the 19 coaches all showed agreat deal of interest and knowledge in taking part in thesessionsThe course was held over two days to tie in withthe Ukrainian National Coaching Conference. Nineteencoaches from all over Ukraine attended the course whichwas run as part of the IRB/FIRA-AER Training and Educa-tion Support “TES” Adoption Scheme.

As part of the course, Mr Hoare ran practical modules onscrum, lineout, contact, back play and defence and theorymodules on coaching process and styles, key factor androle analysis, player welfare, and selection.

“The trip to the Ukraine was a great personal experienceand I’m sure it was beneficial to those who took part aswell,” said Mr Hoare.

“I had a great welcome and the 19 coaches all showed agreat deal of interest and knowledge in taking part in thesessions.”

This trip was the second time the WRU Coach Devel-opment department has been involved with training inUkraine, with Jon Evans, Coach Development Officer fromthe Blues Region, running an IRB Sevens Level 2 coursethere in the summer.

Gerry Roberts, WRU Coach Development Manager, said:“It’s vital we continue to support developing nations in theircoach development. Tim did a superb job in Ukraine andlooking forward, we hope to hold more trips into the future.”

Tim Hoare, pictured centre front

Swalec Cup - Round 1 tiesROUND 1 - To be played the weekend of 4th January 2014

Neath RFC v Cross Keys RFC; Swansea RFC v CarmarthenRFC; Llanelli RFC v Tata Steel RFC; Bargoed RFC v BedwasRFC; Cardiff Met RFC v Blackwood RFC; Pontypool RFC vNewbridge RFC; Aberavon RFC v Bridgend RFC; Newport RFC vBonymaen RFC; Ebbw Vale RFC v Beddau RFC; Llanharan RFCv Tondu RFC

Byes:- Pontypridd RFC; Llandovery RFC; Cardiff RFC; NarberthRFC; Bridgend Ath RFC; RGC1404

Saturday, 7th September 2013Ammanford 31 (+1) v Kidwelly 30 (+2)Carmarthen Ath 20 v Crymych 8Glynneath 29 (+1) v Builth Wells 3Kenfi g Hill 29 (+1) v Llangennech 23 (+2)Loughor 34 v Whitland 6Waunarlwydd 52 (+1) v Cwmllynfell 5

Saturday, 14th September 2013Builth Wells 27 (+1) v Ammanford 13Crymych 35 v Kenfi g Hill 29 (+1)Cwmllynfell 34 (+1) v Loughor 22Kidwelly 15 (+1) v Waunarlwydd 17Llangennech 17 (+1) v Glynneath 23Whitland 22 (+1) v Carmarthen Athletic 24

DIVISION ONE WEST

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Got a match report to share? Email it togwcymru1@aol.com and it will be included

DIVISION ONE NORTH

Swalec Bowl Preview:Fishguard chase SwalecBowl successFishguard are dreaming of anotherMillennium Stadium final

Fishguard may have lost the SWALEC Bowl final atthe Millennium Stadium last season 27-17 to Watts-town, but a 40-7 success for the Four West club overPembroke Dock Quins in round two of this season’scompetition has the Seagulls dreaming of another visitto the home of Welsh rugby.

They will make the trip to Tregaron after the Six Westside won 20-10 at Llangwm.

Hendy are unbeaten at the top of Four West but theyonly just edged out Cwmtwrch of Four South West inround two. Their tie finished 18-18 and equal on trycount with Hendy going through as the away side.They will hope it is not that close when they travel toYstradgynlais of Five South West, who defeated FallBay 49-0 in round two.

Clwb Rygbi Caerdydd had a superb 15-5 victory at thepreviously unbeaten St Joseph’s of Four South West.They will play host to Machen of Five South East look-ing to maintain their interest in the competition.

There will be a Cardiff derby at Llandaff where theteam from Bishop’s Field will entertain rivals LlandaffNorth. Both sides play in Four South East but sevenplaces separate the sides, Llandaff sitting in fifthand North propping up the table but the hosts will belooking to build on their cup form after beating CardiffSaracens 45-3 to reach the third round.

Dinas Powys beat Four South East side Barry 9-5at the Reservoir Field to earn a third round meetingwith another side from that division in Llantwit Major.Shotton Steel of Two North defeated Abergele 31-22and entertain Welshpool of Three North, while Llange-fni’s 42-0 success over Bangor University gives themanother home tie against a Mold side that thrashedLlangollen 68-7. The teams have already met in TwoNorth with Llangefni coming out on top 31-24.

Ties involving the North/Mid Wales Clubs:Colwyn Bay v LlandudnoWrexham v Menai BridgeLlangefni v MoldShotton Steel v WelshpoolTregaron v Fishguard

DIVISION TWO NORTH

If you see any errors or omissions please emailthe details to gwcymru1@aol.com

Daniel Lynskey scoring a try in last weekend’s Shotton Steel v Wrexham game. - Picture by Mike Wood

DIVISION THREE NORTH

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Phone 07713 514 375 fora free quotation.

WRU DIVISION 2 WESTSaturday, 7th September 2013

WRU DIVISION 6 EAST

Spa men finish their final league game for 2013 with anaway win to keep them challenging at the top of the divi-sion.

The was a decidedly physical match with numerous stop-pages for injuries, some minor and a couple more seriouswith a suspected broken ankle for Llandrindod’s DannyDavies, and an Old Tylerians wing seemingly knockedunconscious.

What Old Tylerians lacked in youth they more than madeup with their years of experience and street-wise play andthis disrupted Llandrindod’s attempts to play a flowinggame on a good surface. Not that the visitors helped them-selves as numerous handling errors and misplaced passes lost built-up momentum and potentialscoring opportunities.

Llandrindod opened the scoring within ten minutes withthe first of two tries from prop Richard Watkins, conversionby Davies. Old Tylerians countered shortly afterwards witha try in the corner by wing Morgan Griffiths, and then in a

decidedly scrappy remainder of this half tended to have thebetter of Llandrindod but with neither side looking like scor-ing, the half ended with a slender Llandrindod lead.

The tables were turned after the break and it was Lland-rindod’s turn to try to convert a degree of domination in topoints but poor ball control led to many scoring opportuni-ties going begging. A maul five metres from the Old Tyleri-ans line led to Watkins’ second try as he squeezed to ballout of a pile of bodies to touch down, carefully watched bythe referee. Davies converting again.

In a finale with lots of effort by both sides but with littlestructure, Llandrindod put the game beyond Old Tylerians’reach with a Jason Pritchard try, converted by Jac Holden,Davies having by now departed the fray.

Llandrindod have no League match until after New Yearwhen they host Tref y Clawdd on 4 January. There is how-ever, a ‘development’ game this weekend when a NewtownXV visit Llandrindod.

If you see any errors or omissions please emailthe details to gwcymru1@aol.com

MINI/JUNIOR REPORTS

RGC v LLANHARANPics by Alan Skeates

DOLGELLAU v DENBIGHPictures by Rod Davies

Sevens Mandela Day amemorable tributeSeb Lauzier interviews the teams for broadcast afterevery match of the HSBC Sevens World Series. Herehe reflects on an unforgettable and emotional weekendin South Africa, which is now available to watch as high-lights via broadcasters around the world.

Those of us in South Africa over the past week knewthat we were witnessing at first hand a hugely significantpassage of time, but the scale of it has perhaps onlydawned on us since arriving home.

Nelson Mandela’s sad passing left the nation of SouthAfrica mourning his death and celebrating his life almostin equal measure.

As vistors, we felt blessed to be there during such a sadyet significant moment in history, especially in Port Eliza-beth so near to Qunu in the Eastern Cape, where it wasannounced he will be laid to rest.

Sport was played all around the world last weekend andeverywhere moments of silence were observed in hon-our of Mandela, and yet only one event was played ina South African stadium bearing his name - the NelsonMandela Bay Stadium - and Rugby was lucky enough tobe there.

In 1995 Mandela found a way of unifying a nationthrough the Springboks and the Rugby World Cup inSouth Africa, and 18 years on rugby was handed theopportunity to pay immediate tribute.

With a mixture of sadness, respect and pride all 16 in-ternational teams in Port Elizabeth for the Sevens stoodas one for the South African National anthem and then aminute’s silence - a special moment.

On day two ‘Mandiba magic’ was once again in the airamid echoes of that World Cup in 1995. South Africa,once again inspired by Mandela, beat the favouritesNew Zealand by three points. The hosts’ impeccable,inspirational and blond-haired captain, wearing thenumber six jersey as had Francois Pienaar, raised theCup aloft. A unified crowd rose in response. Few couldargue that this was the perfect result.

It was a wonderful moment to be immersed in, and yetit wasn’t until arriving back into the UK that our uniqueproximity to events really hit home. World leaders werebeing interviewed on every news channel and intelligentpeople were speculating about how South Africansmight be feeling, and responding.

We had been there hours before. We had been for-tunate enough to stand in Mandela’s stadium amongthose people. As we checked out of our rooms in thehotel that catered for the 16 teams, staff were busilyreadying themselves to make the short trip to a sisterhotel where they would welcome ministers, foreign anddomestic, arriving to pay their respects.

South African broadcaster Gavin Cowley likened rugby’stribute on day one to a state funeral. While we will notbe there when the great man is laid to rest, it certainlyfeels like we were all lucky enough to say a personalgoodbye.

This article firstappeared on theIRB web-site