Monthly Archives: August 2021
Here is the Steelmen Side for Saturday afternoon’s fixture against Aberavon RFC in Port Talbot.
Kick Off 14:30pm
Talbot Athletic Ground
1) Joel Harries
2) James Benjamin
3) Rob Sevenoaks
4) Lance Randell
5) Cory Talbot
6) Dan Hill
7) Owen Young
8) Ethan Doyle
9) Jack Harvey
10) Lewis K Williams
11) Euan Rosser
12) Dom Franchi (c)
13) Lewis Bates
14) Dafydd Howells
15) Joe Westwood
16) Luke Garrett
17) Harry Fry
18) Connor Chapman
19) Dave Whiting
20) Adam Williams
21) Scott Parsons
22) Alex Grey
23) Dawid Rubasniak
24) Matthew Flanagan
25) G R Jones
26) Will Keep
27) Carrick McDonough
28) Dan Haymond
There are a few spaces available on the supporters bus for Saturdays’ game at Aberavon RFC. The supporters bus will be leaving the clubhouse at 12.30 and can the contact Angharad or Andrew Phillips
Angharad 07816153355
Here is the Steelmen Side for Saturday afternoon’s match against London Scottish RFC at Maidenhead RFC 3pm KO
This is our biggest game so far, in every sense of the word. It’s going to be great preparation for the coming season and we’re all really looking forward to testing ourselves against some quality opposition Joe Franchi
15) Dan Haymond
14) Dafyfdd Howells
13) Lewis Bates
12) Dom Franchi
11) Jordan Thomas
10) Rhys Jones
9) Matthew Flanagan
8) Lewis Young
7) Alex Grey
6) Dan Hill
5) Corey Talbot
4) Lance Randell
3) Dave Whiting
2) Joe Franchi
1) Luke Garrett
16) Joel Harries
17) James Benjamin
18) Adam Williams
19) Scott Parsons
20) Rob Sevenoaks
21) Owen Young
22) Connor Chapman
23) Ethan Doyle
24) Jack Harvey
25) Lewis K Williams
26) Ethan Phillips
27) Sam Ireland
28) Ewan Rosser
29) Joe Westwood
Follow updates of the game on our twitter @evrfc
We have agreed to the following kick off times and dates to play RGC in the Premiership Cup Fixtures:
Saturday 9th October 2021: RGC v Ebbw Vale Kick Off 5:30pm
Friday 19th November 2021: Ebbw Vale v RGC Kick Off 7:00pm
The fixture against London Scottish was originally organised to be played on Richmond Athletic Ground.
This game has been moved to:-
Maidenhead RFC, Braywick Road, Maidenhead, SL6 1BN
The Kick Off is 3.00pm
Tickets need to be booked via the following link at eventbrite
Adult tickets are priced at £5 (U 18s free).
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/london-scottish-vs-ebbw-vale-rfc-tickets-166491983003?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=escb
After an 18-month hiatus due to the pandemic, the Indigo Group Premiership clubs finally have something to look forward to with a new cup competition set to kick-start the season on September 18.
The 12 clubs have been divided into two pools of six – West and East – for the inaugural Indigo Group Premiership Cup.
Llanelli, Aberavon, Bridgend, Carmarthen Quins, Llandovery and Swansea form the West while Merthyr, Ebbw Vale, Pontypridd, Newport, Cardiff and RGC will contest the East.
The initial stage will be on a home and away basis to find the top two sides from each group. The winner from West will then host the runners-up from East in one semi-final while in the other semi-final the winner of East will host the runner-up of West. The date and venue of the final are TBC.
“The key for us has been to get people back playing rugby. A lot of time and effort has gone into ensuring the top end of our club game can return to action in a safe environment,” said WRU head of participation, Geraint John.
“Finally, the players and coaches have something tangible to focus on and we can all now look forward to seeing some exciting derbies which I’m sure will give fans something to shout about at long last.”
Ian Cole-Wilkins, CEO of Indigo Group, added: “We are pleased to be finally welcoming clubs back after a long and challenging 18 months. The new West and East cup competition format to start in September gives local supporters the chance to see the players stir up some long standing rivalries!
“Indigo Group will continue to support clubs with their return to rugby and we look forward to getting to some of the games.”
Jon Jones, chairman of the Indigo Group Premiership clubs and Ebbw Vale, expressed relief that a date has now been set in concrete to get the players back on the pitch and is hoping the derbies will see fans pouring back through the turnstiles.
“Having a cup competition at the beginning of the season is something different, but we’re obviously looking forward to it because we haven’t played for over 18 months by the time we kick off,” he said. “We’re really enthusiastic to get back to playing and that is a message from all the Indigo Group Premiership clubs really.�
“It’s really important to have that start date set now – we’ve not even got close to it before so it’s great to know when we’re going to start, we’ve all got friendly fixtures lined up to lead into the competition,” he said.
Jones added the Indigo Group Premiership has had to follow certain protocols before having a start-date confirmed.
“Training has already started for the clubs, but we need a bigger lead-in than some of the community clubs for obvious reasons.
“We have got to get a lot of things in place and it gives us time to do that to make sure the players are ready – it’s been a long time without contact so there are concerns from the medical side of things and that is why it has been managed in the way it has and why we are starting later than the community game.”
With pre-season now fully underway, Aberavon head coach Jason Hyatt is eager to get the new campaign going.
“From our point of view, it’s really important that we get back playing as soon as possible, it’s so important on all fronts. Important for the clubs, important for the supporters and Welsh rugby in general,” he said.
“It is nice to have something concrete to look forward to. They will all be difficult games, traditionally the West sides play a lot of rugby and I enjoyed it the last time it was east and west if I’m honest.
“The East and West is not a new format – we did it a number of years ago and that was the year we reached the final play-off and we played Merthyr in the final.
“We’re very lucky in Aberavon, we’ve got fantastic supporters and everyone is busting a gut to watch rugby again. My son plays for Gowerton, I watched him play against Dunvant so it feels like it is starting to feel like a bit of normality is kicking in now. It was just nice watching a game of rugby so no doubt our supporters will feel exactly the same.”
Hyatt has no doubt the derbies will bring the best out of the players and is encouraging fans who have been devoid of any live sporting action over the past 18 months to go and support their local team.
“Personally, I think the standard is rising all the time. I take my hat off to everyone involved with the Indigo Group Premiership – it doesn’t just fall in our laps at that level. A lot of hard work is involved, and it is a fantastic environment for youngsters to come through and learn,” he said.
Jones added: “This will be a chance to see some live rugby, it’s good for the clubs and good for atmosphere and I think everybody needs that after what we have been through as a society – everybody needs something different to the garden.
“It’s a chance for the Indigo Group Premiership clubs to continue to show what they can do – that is why we would be really pleased to get more people through the gates because I think as people come they will want to come again.”
With the desperately sad news that Mike Treanor died on Sunday, it is surely appropriate to start by expressing our deepest sympathy to Anne Jill, Catrin, Richard John and the grandchildren , of all of whom he was inordinately, and justifiably proud.I say this because in his packed life and immense contribution to Ebbw Vale, the town, the steelworks and, to him, the supremely important Rugby Club, everything always came second to his family, although to Anne and the children it might not always have seemed like that.Mike was a true Corinthian. He gave of his time for everything he did willingly and battled even when times were hard.He arrived in Ebbw Vale when the steelworks was at its peak. The Rugby Club was successful because the players were treated in a way few could match. The Cornish tour made men of boys. We had employment that could be offered. Everyone wanted to play for us and none wanted to play against us. For a Derbyshire lad, although always a passionate welshman at all times apart from when his beloved County were playing Glamorgan, the sporting opportunities on the Rugby and Cricket field and latterly the Golf course were endless and remarkably thirst inducing. He took full advantage.His employment in the Works produced unforeseen challenges. When the General Manager decided it would be good for morale to start a Rugby team, with himself aged 47 and not having played for 40 years and never at outside half, the programme announced the names on the team sheet with the surprising addition of a 16th name ”who would assist the Captain throughout the match”. It is a tribute to Mike’s fortitude that he took the hospital passes that my father dished out to him without complaint.He became used to adversity, but never shirked responsibility. In the aftermath of the steelworks closing, the Club went through a difficult period and were it not for Mike and his close circle of friends, acting as Secretary and Chairman, the likelihood is that Ebbw Vale would have gone the way of our great rivals, Abertillery. We did not and that is in large measure due to Mike staring disaster in the face and refusing to be beaten. Right until the end, this is how he was and the fact that his beloved club survived and thrived is in no small measure due to him. The added bonus of away trips to gastronomic centres in Europe was reward in itself, although an away trip to the Wines of Bordeaux might have suited him better than the one to the Prunes of Agen.I had the privilege of sharing many happy moments with him and his family. His appreciation of the Leaning Tower of Pisa was all that might be expected of a first class civil engineer but came second to that day in Pontypridd when Damian etc beat the home team to win the Premiership. Mike was ecstatic and his ecstasy showed itself by constant repetition of” after all these bloody years, we have finally won something!”Our club has lost one of its greatest administrators, players and supporters. He is impossible to replace. There is much talk now of greatness, of form, of class but not much of the quality that marked Mike out from we lesser mortals- he had style, and bags of it.And he is to my certain knowledge the only Ebbw player ever to have represented India at International Rugby- and if that isn’t style, I don’t know what is.I speak for all of us when I say that we have lost one of our dearest friends.Mark Powell QCPresident Ebbw Vale RFC
Highlights of Brecon RFC against Ebbw Vale in our first pre season fixture which we ran out 64-5 winners against a good Brecon side.