Congratulations to Rhodri Cole who was chosen as the Neath Rugby Supporters Club Man of the Match following the Llandovery game last weekend.
Rhodri had a fine game at scrum half on an otherwise disappointing day for Neath. We’re sure it won’t be the last award Rhodri picks up as a very promising future awaits him.
Neath Rugby Supporters Club would like to express their thanks to Low Cost Vans, who have agreed to sponsor our forthcoming Neath v New Zealand 25th Anniversary celebrations on 24 October.
The evening will look back at that memorable game in the company of Wales coach, Warren Gatland, who was part of the New Zealand touring squad that day. Also sharing his memories of that day, will be former Neath full back Paul Thorburn. The game will also be re-run in its entirety on the big screens.
The celebration will be held on Friday 24th October at the Gnoll clubhouse with the game being re-run on the big screens from 7:30pm. Tickets cost £5 for Neath Rugby Supporters Club members and £8 for non-members. Tickets are limited and are available from the supporters club table in the clubhouse before or after Saturday’s game with Llandovery.
Come and join us as we look back at one of the most memorable games in Neath’s rugby history.
Neath Rugby Supporters Club is to host a commemoration evening to mark the 25th anniversary of the memorable Neath v New Zealand game in October 1989.
The evening will look back at that memorable game in the company of Wales coach, Warren Gatland, who was part of the New Zealand touring squad that day. Also sharing his memories of that day, will be former Neath full back Paul Thorburn. The game will also be re-run in its entirety on the big screens.
The celebration will be held on Friday 24th October at the Gnoll clubhouse with the game being re-run on the big screens from 7:30pm. Tickets cost £5 for Neath Rugby Supporters Club members and £8 for non-members. Tickets are limited and are available from the supporters club table in the clubhouse before or after Saturday’s game with Llandovery.
Come and join us as we look back at one of the most memorable games in Neath’s rugby history.
Background
In October 1989, during their tour of Wales, mighty New Zealand took on Neath at the Gnoll. The New Zealanders were reigning world champions and contained some of the finest players ever to play the game – Fitzpatrick, Whetton, Jones, Shelford, Brooke, Fox and Little to name a few.
Even though Neath were the most feared club side in the country and featured the likes of Brian Williams, Kevin Phillips, Mark Jones and Paul Thorburn they weren’t expected to pose to much of a treat to the world champions.
It seemed the whole town crammed into the Gnoll on that Wednesday afternoon, and the ground was rocking with an incredible atmosphere. Those other All Blacks were stunned and the noise got even louder once Alan Edmunds scored a sensational try in the corner and the crowd began to believe that Neath might pull off one of the biggest shocks in rugby history.
Sadly, the win didn’t materialise, but Neath had given New Zealand an almighty scare. It led New Zealand’s tour captain, the legendary Wayne Shelford to say “The atmosphere at the Neath ground in that midweek match was unbelievable. They were packed into that little ground like sardines and although there were only 10,000 of them it sounded like 100,000. I don’t usually find crowds and the noise they generate that daunting. But I have to admit sitting in the stands watching the boys against a fired-up Neath was a real experience. The grandstand was almost rocking.”
Neath Chief Executive Will Thomas will be holding an open forum and Q and A session for fans. It will be a chance for Will to update the fans on the proposed new structure for the business and other off-field matters. It will also be an opportunity for fans to ask Will any questions that they might have.
The forum will take place at the clubhouse on Wednesday 8 October 2014 at 7:00pm.
The event is open to all Neath supporters and the Neath Rugby Supporters Club would encourage as many as possible to attend.
Congratulations to outside half Luke Price on being named the Neath Rugby Supporters Club Man of the Match after Saturday’s game with Ebbw Vale.
Luke is the first player to win this award and another Man of the Match will be chosen after this Saturday’s game with Llandovery.
Finally, after what seems like an age, the first home game of the season is upon us. Today’s visitors are our old friends Ebbw Vale. So many players (and coaches) have represented both clubs in recent years and it’s great to finally see them back in the Premiership.
It’s been a tough start to the season, with defeats at Aberavon and Pontypridd but I’m sure the boys will be keen to put things right today and get that all important first win.
The Supporters Club continues to go from strength to strength. Firstly, we want to thank everyone who supported our Hall of Fame event at the end of last season. I think everyone who was there agreed that it was a massive success. We have plans to repeat it again this season, and we will be asking for your nominations later in the year, so get your thinking caps on.
We are currently in discussions with Rowland to find out what equipment the team need that can be bought with the proceeds from the evening. We’ll hopefully have some news on this soon.
On to this season, and we are pleased to announce that we will be running buses to away games, starting with the Llanelli game on Friday 3rd October. The bus will leave the clubhouse at 6:00pm and leave Llanelli immediately following the game. Tickets are priced at £6 for Supporters Club members and £8 for non-members. Places are limited and tickets must be purchased in advance – you can do so by visiting the Supporters Club table in the clubhouse before or after today’s game. If the venture proves popular, we will look at putting on extra/bigger coaches for future games.
Don’t forget that the club belongs to its members. We are always keen to hear from you for any ideas or suggestions you may have for improving the club or fund raising initiatives that we could run. Please come and see us at the games.
Of course, for the club to be a success we need members. If you haven’t yet joined up for the 2014/15 season, you can do so at today’s game. Membership costs just £10 for the whole season and for that you will get a Neath Rugby Supporters Club car sticker as well as discounted prices on many of our activities. Come and see us in the clubhouse today to sign up. Remember, any profit made goes directly into helping the team.
Josh Davies wearing one of the new Training Tops
With the countdown on to the first home game of the season, now seems a good time to remind you that membership of Neath Rugby Supporters Club for 2014/15 is now open.
If you want to sign up, please come and visit us in the clubhouse before or after Saturday’s game with Ebbw Vale.
The cost remains at £10 for the season. Members will get a NRSC car sticker upon joining as well as receiving many discounts and benefits throughout the coming season.
Remember, we are here to help the team. Any profits we make ploughed back into the team to help with the purchase of kit and equipment as they strive to return to the top of Welsh club rugby.
Phill Lawrence looks back on pre-season and forward to the coming campaign:
Hello everybody and welcome to the new Principality Premiership Season. A new season and a new start for the most famous and oldest rugby club in Wales, as we bid ‘farewell’ to Neil ‘Nelly’ Edwards, but welcome back the man, the legend that is Rowland Phillips.
There are also changes in the playing personnel, with influential leader James Goode and lethal sniper Ceri Young departing for the capital, but club favourites Lee Beach, Luke Ford, Jamie Davies, Ryan Evans and Lloyd Phillips returning, as well as new boys Aaron Coundley, Calum Thomas and Giulio Cenedese.
We have also signed some promising youngsters from Glynneath in Rhod Cole and Josh Jones, plus Alex Humphries from Crymych, James Locke formally of Tata Steel, Nick Clancy and Nicky Eaves.
There are also more arrivals on the horizon, and we have a better relationship with the Ospreys than ever, as Daf Howells, Jordan Collier and Calum Davies return to us, plus the electric Ashley Evans, solid prop Gareth Thomas and promising Hooker Scott Otten joining the Dark Side.
I’m sure all supporters of the Blacks will make these boys feel most welcome, along with the current crop of warriors we have at the club.
Everyone acknowledges that we had a year to forget last year, both on the field and off the field, but hopefully a fresh start and a fresh outlook from the players, coaches and also supporters will make this a season to remember.
Our pre-season has been a little mixed to be honest. It started with a very credible 15-all draw against a determined, and fully pro, Doncaster Knights team, where a bad bounce of the ball went against us. We were definitely the stronger team come the Second Half.
Next came Plymouth Albion, and a bit of a reality check, as we went down 7-34. More disappointingly was the fact we lost Dale Ford for the Season with a really nasty injury, probably for the whole Season. I’m sure everyone associated with Neath wishes Dale well for his recovery, as he had made a big commitment to stay with Neath, despite serious overtures from a number of other Premiership Teams #KeepStrongDale.
On Tuesday August 19th Neath brought the whole region to the Gnoll as the Ospreys, Aberavon, Bridgend and Swansea came to the Gnoll for the Premier 4×4 Challenge. This was a unique event as each club had 20 minutes to challenge the regional boys and test themselves at a higher level than normal. Aberavon were first up and did well to hold ‘Y Gweilch’ to 0-0, then Bridgend came calling and weren’t so lucky – 12-0 to the regional team.
Swansea were next in the firing line and held the Ospreys well, before conceding a late score and losing 0-5, which left the home team standing against a 17 point deficit!
Neath came out strong at the start and sent the Gnoll into raptures as Rhod Cole jinked through and sent new boy James Locke over at the posts for a first try against the Ospreys, converted by ex-Glynneath man Cole.
Neath led 7-0 and needed just one more converted score to take the ‘overall’ lead, but the Ospreys were not just going to lie down. They duly fought back via a penalty to the corner from Sam Davies and a quick lineout resulted in the ball being fed to Natoga, who held onto his first pass of the night, having dropped several balls already, and he skated over. Sam Davies drew the scores level with the conversion.
Neath then tried to pressure the Ospreys from the kick off, but a couple of mistakes led to a penalty for not releasing the player. The resulting tap penalty was quickly spread to Hanno Dirksen, who didn’t drop the ball over the line this time – remember the Play Off Final in 2010?! – and Sam Davies duly planted the extras to give the Ospreys a deserved 14-7 victory, and the Premier 4×4 Challenge Trophy, but Neath earned the plaudits after being the only team to score against the regional men.
That exercise proved useful, as two days later Neath took on local team Trebanos. It was a golden evening for new boy Ashley Evans, who bagged a hat trick, and also for Rhodri Cole – filling in at 10 – with a personal haul of 15 points (1 try and 5 conversions). Also scoring were Kyle Tayler and Lee Evans, who allegedly skipped around ten players and ran 40 yards to score!
The other try came from good forward pressure resulting in a Penalty Try, but only after a lot of pounding on the Neath Line from the Trebanos lads. They never gave in all night and the 45-0 scoreline, although reflective of the most part, was a little unfair on the Swansea Valley team’s efforts.
We moved onto the Foster’s 7s and for the second year running we came up against a team chock full of Sevens Stars as we played Carmarthen Quins – The West Walians winning 28-7 and we fared no better in the plate, losing to Cardiff Met.
Next came our BIC Qualifier away to Aberavon. To say we were disappointing would be a massive understatement. Outplayed up front and not enough ball behind. We showed what we were capable of in the early stages, as a try from Dai Evans, converted by Ceiron Thomas, was negated by a try from Ash Evans, converted by Rhod Cole.
But that is as good as it got for the Blacks, as Jon Phillips scored before half time to give the Wizards a 12-7 interval lead.
Things got worse after the break as Ben Davies crashed over, but two missed conversions, and a penalty from Rhod Cole reduced the arrears to 10-17.
Aberavon completed the win with a try from Nicky Thomas and a further penalty from Ceiron Thomas to seal the 25-10 scoreline in favour of the boys from the TAG.
RP was very disappointed with the result, but he and the players know the areas that require work before this week’s trip to Pontypridd, where the Champions will be looking to get their campaign off to the best possible start, while we will be looking to cause a big upset at The House of Pain.
From a personal point of view I feel we will do well this season and we will regain some of the pride and poise we have lost over a couple of difficult seasons…
…But the boys cannot do it on their own… they need all the support we can muster for them… Let’s get behind them, let’s make The Gnoll a fortress again and let’s make people fear the Blacks and the mighty Maltese Cross!!
See you all at Sardis on Saturday!
Following numerous requests from its members, Neath Rugby Supporters Club have arranged a supporters bus to the Llanelli game on Friday 3rd October.
The bus will leave the clubhouse at 6:00pm at return immediately following the game. Tickets cost £6 for supporters club members and £8 for non-members.
Tickets MUST be purchased in advance and are non-refundable. You can buy them from the Supporters Club table in the clubhouse at the Ebbw Vale game (20th September) or the Llandovery game (27th September).
Places are strictly limited, so book early to avoid disappointment. The bus is being arranged on a trial basis, so if there is sufficient interest we will look at providing bigger/extra buses for future games.
Remember, that as with all of our activities, any profits made from the supporters bus will be ploughed back into the team.
At the recent Neath Rugby Supporters Club AGM it was agreed to draw up a constitution and to publish it to the website for members to be able to view it and to have their say on it.
The draft constitution is published below. Any member who wishes to comment on it must do so by Monday 15th September 2014. Comments should be e-mailed to info@neathrugbysupporters.com together with your name and membership number. Comments will only be accepted from NRSC members.
Also, the minutes from the AGM are also now available to NRSC members. You can request a copy by e-mailing info@neathrugbysupporters.com. Don’t forget to include your name and membership number.
Neath Rugby Supporters Club Constitution
Objectives
Membership
Management Committee
AGM & Appointment of Management Committee
Financial Management
Dissolution
Changes to the Constitution
Neath Rugby Supporters Club 