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Nostalgia

Clearing out the attic during the summer?You’re bound to come across some old picturesor programmes from byegone days. If you don’tmind sharing them in a future issue, pleaseemail them to gwcymru1@aol.com (if you’reable to scan them) or telephone 07713 514375to discuss further

Season Tickets are now available fromColwyn Bay Leisure Centre. You canwatch all the home games for £50 or £30concessions.

RGC had a great response last season forseason tickets so don’t miss out this yearas they look to build on what they did onthe pitch last season.

Colwyn Bay Leisure Centre - 01492577900 to reserve your ticket.

RGC announce twoFriday night friendliesfor AugustThe North Wales regional side, RGC, haveannounced the dates of a couple of Fridaynight friendlies in August.

RGC will play Bethesda at Eirias onAugust 15th and Chester away on August29th with further friendlies to be an-nounced.

RGC win plate atChester 7’sRGC finished their time on the Summer 7sCircuit by winning the Plate Competition atthe Chester 7s Tournament.

A tough group saw them start by beatingthe ‘ Goats ‘ before losing both their next2 games against the Akuma Exiles & RedPanda.

Winning their final game against Northum-bria University meant a semi-final againstOld Ellesmerians.

Narrowly edging a scrappy game meantfacing Barbados in the Plate Final. Herethe young North Walians produced by fartheir best performance of the day as theyran out 33 points to nil victors.

All in all a very satisfactory end to whathas been a very satisfactory Summer.

Next week sees the start of pre-seasontraining in preparation for what promisesto be another hard (and hopefully suc-cessful) season in the Championship butbefore the latter commences in Septemberthere will be one final 7s outing at theFosters National 7s Competition at CardiffArms Park.

RGCNEWSTHINKING OF GOING TO

CARDIFF FOR THE FOSTERSSEVENS?

The RGC Supporters Clubare running a bus (leaving

Eirias at 8am)

Please ring Phil Williams on07773979910 to book yourseat or for further details.

Sam Dodge - WRU BiogSam graduated from UWIC in 2011after studying BSc Sports Condition-ing and Rehabilitation. He is current-ly studying MPhil research programspecifically in the field of strengthand conditioning.

Previously he was with Cardiff BluesAcademy where he was attachedwith the regional championship win-ning Under 18s side in 2010/2011.

In 2011 he was Assistant Strength &Conditioning coach with the WalesUnder 18s squad. Other rolesinclude lead Strength & Conditioningcoach with the Welsh Judo Com-monwealth Games Squad and WelshTennis High Performance Network.

Pre-Season Positives

The Academy Boys have been back withus since the start of June and are having8 sessions a week for the next couple ofmonths. We are working on all aspectsincluding resistance, fitness and injuryprevention.

We are also implementing the newStrength and Conditioning procedures forthe senior side over the coming weeks. Itis an important time for us, especially withall the traveling and games during the sea-son this is the chance we have to physi-cally up-skill the players.

With the Academy players we are lookingfor that constant development with thehigh training volume in preparation for thesenior sides.

We have just tested the Academy playersand the results are positive with improve-ments in size, speed and fitness. I amworking Mark Lewin on the senior sidetraining, and we will be introducing thenew testing with them over the next fewweeks.

With preseason well under wayRGC News caught up withAcademy and Senior Strengthand Conditioner, Sam Dodge

RGCNEWS

Foster’s Sevens champions Pontypriddwill play Cross Keys in the opening roundof this year’s tournament. Report by LizJones

Foster’s National Sevens draw - big firstgame for RGC

Foster’s Sevens champions Pontypriddwill play Cross Keys in the opening roundof this year’s tournament, which will beheld at the BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park onSunday 24 August.

Runners-up Llandovery face Cardiff inRound 1, while semi-finalists Aberavonand RGC 1404 play Newport and Llanellirespectively.

Bedwas, who lifted the Plate at theinaugural event last summer, have drawnWelsh Students.

The rest of the draw sees newcomersCardiff Met play SWALEC Championshipwinners Ebbw Vale, Bridgend face fellowOspreys club Swansea and Neath playCarmarthen Quins.

Elliot Jones, of Cross Keys said, “Welost twice to Pontypridd at the end of lastyear, in the Cup final and the Play-Off finaland they will be tough opponents here aschampions. However, we want to preparewell and have a good crack at this.

“Although we are probablly better knownfor our driving line-out, we have sometalented backs too and everything is setup for a great day out for all involved, thefans included.”

WRU National Performance ManagerGethin Watts said, “Last year’s first eventwas very successful, and everything is inplace to grow the tournament from here.

“There are several objectives of the Fos-ter’s Sevens. There are the obvious rugbybenefits of showcasing more talent, raisingawareness and the profile of sevens; butit’s also a day of celebration for the clubs,a great way to kick off the season for theteams and the fans and a chance for eve-ryone to see the new talents associatedwith the clubs and a carnival of rugby foreveryone to enjoy.

“Pontypridd were the flag bearers lastyear, they really laid down a marker for

everyone else to aim for, and some oftheir players like Alex Webber and AdamThomas were key Wales Sevens playersduring the season.

“There is no doubt the standard is goingto be higher this season and a lot of clubswill put a lot of emphasis into their prepa-ration for this event this year.

“We know that the likes of Alex Cuth-bert and Justin Tipuric cut their teeth onthe sevens circuit and this tournamentprovides an opportunity for new talent tocome to the top.”

Rugby World Cup Sevens winner LeeBeach, who has joined Neath from New-port, is looking forward to the challenge.

“Sevens is a fantastic way to developplayers and we have a lot of youngstersin our squad so it will be good to see howthey get on. We have drawn CarmarthenQuins who have a number of experiencedSevens players in their ranks and I for onehope I won’t have to face my former worldcup team mate Lee Williams on the day!

“Sevens is a great spectator sport - someof the IRB tournaments like Hong Kongand Wellington are amazing tournamentsto be part of - and hopefully more and eWelsh supporters will see that and getbehind this event again this year.”

Bedwas’ Matthew John added: “We wonthe plate last year, the boys played reallywell, hopefully we can continue that suc-cess. It was great winning the plate buthopefully this time we can qualify for theknock-out rounds of the main competition.Hopefully we can take advantage of theWelsh Students’ youth and lack of experi-ence and go from there but they will be fit,that’s for sure.

“This tournament is ideal for people whowant to go higher in rugby and it’s a greatshop window for those who want to playmore sevens in the future as well. It’s agood way to get your name out there forthe season to come.”

Tickets are on sale now for the day longevent at just £10 for adults, £5 for Under16s and £20 for a family ticket (2 adults, 2children). To purchase tickets, go to www.wru.co.uk/fosterssevens or call 0333 3219989 (Ticketmaster) or 02920 230130(Ticketline).

Tickets are also available to personalcallers from the WRU shop, 8 WestgateStreet, from Ticketline, 47 Westgate Streetand from participant clubs.

Prop Cai Griffithsreturns to Ospreysfrom London WelshProp Cai Griffiths has returned to Ospreysafter being released by Aviva Premiershipclub London Welsh. Report: BBC Wales.Picture: Getty Images

The 30-year-old Bangor-born tight-headmade 123 appearances in two previousstints at Liberty Stadium.

He joined London Irish in August 2012, butwas back in Swansea on loan six monthslater before spending 2013-14 with theExiles.

Griffiths, who helped London Welsh toreturn to English rugby’s top flight, is Os-preys’ sixth summer signing.

Centre Josh Matavesi joined from Worces-ter and full-back Dan Evans left NewportGwent Dragons for the Liberty Stadium.

Lock Rynier Bernardo has been recruitedfrom South African side Eastern ProvinceKings, along with hooker Sam Parry fromDragons and loose-head prop GarethThomas from Carmarthen Quins.

The Captains/Vice Captains for the1st & 2nd XV for the 2014/15 seasonare as follows:

1st Team Captain - Joe Lavin1st Team Vice Captain - Ashley Tilley

2nd Team Captain - Sparky JonesDavies2nd Team Vice Captain - Mike Jones

We wish those selected all the verybest for the upcoming season!

Pre-Season training started on Tues-day 1st July

The Captains/Vice Captains for the1st & 2nd Team for the 2014/15season are as follows:

1st Team:Captain - Matt HulseVice Captain - David Haydock

2nd Team:Captain - Dugie GemmillVice Captain - David Roberts

The Club would like to thank outgoing Captain Dan Jones for all hishard work over the past two seasons,during which he lead the 1st Team topromotion into SWALEC Division 1North.

He also skippered the side to win theNorth Wales Intermediate Cup andduring the 2013/14 season captained

the side to it’s highest league finish inthe Clubs history.

Also departing his official role as ViceCaptain is Geraint Madoc-Jones,a stalwart of the Club Geraint willalways be a leader on and off thefield. We count ourselves lucky tohave such experienced, dependableplayers within our ranks at Clwb RygbiDinbych.

A new £750,000 scheme to provide freeequipment amongst the community rugbyclubs of Wales has been unveiled by theWelsh Rugby Union.

Thousands of items ranging from playingkit to scrummaging machines will be onoffer to reward the most active clubs withdirect help.

The one-off Participation Points schemewill reward clubs with points based on setcriteria which they can then exchange forgoods.

The WRU is preparing a brochure whichwill show clubs what equipment is on offerand detail the number of points needed toclaim specific items.

Over the summer clubs will be advisedhow many points they have and they candecide which items they want to claimunder the scheme.

The catalogue sent to the clubs containsan order form to be completed with a listof each product the relevant member clubwants to receive.

The number of participation points eachclub has been awarded is based on crite-ria such as the number of teams from U7’sto senior and women’s sides plus factorssuch as the number of first aiders, matchofficials and coaches.

This is the second Participation Pointsscheme unveiled by the WRU as in 2010the governing body distributed £1m worthof items.

The aim of the project is to deliver equip-ment to clubs which has a direct andinstant impact on their ability to encouragemore participation at grassroots level.

The commercial team at the WRU isnegotiating with suppliers to ensure themaximum buying power of the £750,000 isachieved, so that bulk order discounts willmean even more equipment on offer.

The Group Chief Executive of the WRU,Roger Lewis, said: “We are delighted to beable to deliver this £750,000 worth of helpto the heart of Welsh rugby where it willmake the biggest impact.

“Our first Participation Points scheme in2010 got a fantastic response from clubsso we are certain this one will be just aswell received.

“The great thing about the scheme is thatit is very simple to take part in and there isno financial cost to the participating clubs.

“We have used the experience gainedfrom the 2010 Participation Points schemeto identify equipment which we knowthe clubs want and we can therefore be

WRU Statement:new national leaguestructureA new national league structure for Welshrugby has been confirmed for next seasonafter a ballot of clubs saw a significantmajority vote to adopt the new format.

The Board of the Welsh Rugby Unionformally approved the new plan for theSWALEC Leagues after reviewing thefeedback they had called for after theissue was debated by clubs at an Extraor-dinary General Meeting.

At the EGM earlier this month a cross sec-tion of views had been expressed aboutthe new structure which had originallybeen approved with the details sent out toclubs in August 2013.

In the ballot 70% of clubs or affiliatedorganisations responded with votes foror against and 61% of those voted to ap-prove the new league structure.

The progress of the new league format willbe monitored throughout season 2014/15by a WRU working group and reviewed inMay 2015.

An Appeals Panel, with an independentand legally qualified chair, is being estab-lished and is considering appeals fromindividual clubs related to their leagueplacings in the new structure.

The new leagues were established aftera working party was set up to review theleague format following initial feedbackfrom the WRU Club Census of 2012.

WRUNEWS

certain it will make a real difference totheir ability to deliver their specific rugbyneeds.”

WRU Chairman, David Pickering, added:“This scheme is a great means of givingclubs a range of equipment which willdramatically improve the ability of all theirteams to play and train efficiently.“We have said we want to keep listeningto our clubs on a range of issues and thisscheme is a clear example of how theWRU engages with the real needs of ourmembers in a very practical way.

“Overall this scheme will deliver directrugby benefits to the game in Wales andcan only help improve standards from thejunior to the senior level in our clubs.

“We all know the challenges faced by ourgrassroots clubs so we aimed to direct thismoney straight back into the areas whereit can accomplish most good.”

New Participation Pointsscheme unveiled by WRU

The principal issues raised then by clubswere the distances travelled to fulfil fix-tures and the related costs.

Contrary views related to the new struc-ture were expressed after the originaldecision to adopt the new format wascommunicated to clubs in 2013.

At the recent EGM it was agreed that aballot should take place and its findingsput before the WRU Board before any de-cision to confirm the adoption of the newleague was taken.

Wales sevens coach Gareth Williams sayshis side can create history at the Com-monwealth Games by winning a medal.

New Zealand have won sevens gold inevery Games since its inception in 1998,without losing a match. In contrast, Waleshave never won a medal - but Williamsbelieves that with hard work, his team canchange this record.

“If we get to a stage where we want tobe... we can challenge and create history,”he said.

“We’re happy with our selection, we’rereally excited about the group we’ve puttogether.

“If we can get everything else right, wecan put ourselves in a position where wecan challenge.

“Within sevens tournaments you growthroughout them and you learn throughoutthem.

“We want to create history and no Welshteam yet has won a medal.”

His thoughts are echoed by Wales captainAdam Thomas, who told BBC Wales thatit will be “an honour and a privilege” tocaptain Wales in Glasgow.

“I’ve been lucky enough to captain Waleslast year in the World Cup in Moscow,”said Thomas, adding: “to captain themagain in the Commonwealth Games is amassive honour for myself and my family.

“We’ve set ourselves goals, but we justwant a medal to be honest.

“If we can get into a position where we canpick up a medal, it would be massive forus as a team and for Team Wales.”

EIRIAS are proud to be offering a new exciting membership to the valued customer inthe North/Mid Wales area. The Foundation Membership is a limited offer, with only 200memberships available. The cost of the membership is £450 and the benefits include:

- A seat in the EIRIAS South Stand permanently named with a name of your choice- Your name will appear on the EIRIAS Foundation Member Board- For a period of 5 years the Foundation Member will be entitled to the following benefits:1. The opportunity to purchase up to 2 seated tickets per event held at EIRIAS up to onemonth in advance of general sale2. 1 free reserved car parking space per event along with early access and priority queu-ing for events3. Access to member areas for all major events, such as the Wales under 20 internation-als4. Free entry in prize draws, where the prizes include hospitality packages for two atthe millennium stadium, hospitality box for up to 10 guests at RGC games and signedinternational jerseys

We would like to offer an exciting and potentially profitable partnership with the clubs inthe North/Mid Wales area. As a club we are offering you an opportunity to become oneof the Foundation Membership agents.

By doing this your club will receive 10% per membership that we sell as a result of yourclub. For this to work all we would need is to be contacted by the interested customerand they would need to quote promotional code EFM2014 and the name of the Rugbyclub. Once we have received the payment off that customer then we would pay you the10%.

For more information on becoming a Foundation membership agent and the benefits itcan bring to your club please contact Richard Orme on 01492 577914 orrichard.orme@eirias.org.uk

EGM pictures: Dai I and Dai II abovewith delegates from Ruthin, Welshpool,Pwllheli and Newtown below.

SENIORPLAYERSPRE-SEASONTRAINING

Wrexham RFC invite all current and pro-spective new players to attend pre-seasontraining in readiness for the challenge ofNorth Wales Division Two.

Thursday night at Wrexham RFC with a6.45pm prompt start until 8.30pm

North Wales Rugby Union Council Annual General Meeting at Conwy Longe, Parc Eirias,Colwyn Bay on Monday 7th July 2014 at 7.00pm

1 Apologies2 To consider and, if approved, confirm the Minutes of the AGM of 20133 The report of the Chair to include reports of Sub committees4 The Balance Sheet and Accounts for the 12 months ended 31st May 20145 Election of officers and sub committee chairmen6 The appointment of Auditors

NWRUC Annual General meeting takes place onMonday, 7th July

Pre-season friendliesFri, Aug 15 RGC v BethesdaSat, Aug 16 Oswestry v WelshpoolThur, Aug 21 Shrewsbury v COBRASat,. Aug 23 Telford v WelshpoolFri, Aug 29 Chester v RGCSat, Aug 30 COBRA v Oswestry

If you have any pre-season friendliesarranged, please email the details togwcymru1@aol.com for inclusion on theNWRUC and Oval Zone websites.

www.nwru.co.uk and www.ovalzone.co.uk

Elen Evans joined a select groupwhen she earned her 50th cap forWales Women when Rhys Edwards’side tackled USA at Pandy Park inCross Keys last weekend.

The match was a warm-up for bothsides as they began preparations fornext month’s Women’s Rugby WorldCup being staged in France.

Elen became the first back in thecurrent Welsh squad to reach the halfcentury mark and follows prop CatrinEdwards and flanker Catrina Nicholasas the most recent additions to thelandmark.

Nicholas and Edwards reached theirmilestone during the Six Nationscampaign which leaves Jenny Dav-ies, who plays her club rugby along-side Evans at Waterloo, as the mostcapped player in the squad with 65caps.

Since making her debut againstIreland in 2004, fewer players havemade bigger sacrifices to representtheir country. Evans lives and worksin Dolgellau and faces up to six hoursin the car for every return trip to andfrom training sessions and matches.

She will have got out of bed at 5amlast Saturday to drive to Wales’ basein the Vale of Glamorgan to meet upwith the rest of the squad before theytravelled onwards to Cross Keys forthe game.

And despite being one of the firstnames inked in on Edwards’ teamsheet, Evans still takes nothing forgranted, even after 49 games forWales. She is at home either at centreor on the wing and has also played fullback for her country.

“The fact the warm-up game for theWomen’s World Cup against USAwas capped put an added edge to thegame but I would like to think I go outand give my best every time I put theshirt on - capped game or not.

“It’s extra special to play in a shirtwith three feathers on it. Every gameis important and every time we beginsinging the anthem emotions runhigh,” said the 28-year-old.

Standing at just 5ft 3in and tipping thescales at 68kgs, she isn’t the biggestplayer at international level but sheis never afraid to put her body on theline for her country.

ELENEVANSFEATURE: ELEN EVANS 50 CAPS FOR WALES

Evans enjoyed the challenge againstUSA and got the touch afternoon shewas expecting at the coalface.

And while most players reaching the50-mark would have been shouting itfrom the roof tops, Evans is of a dif-ferent ilk and played it low key. Whenasked what it meant to reach themagical 50 mark, she replied: “Every-one keeps asking me that.

“Yes, reaching 50 was a special mo-ment but I just want to make sureI have that 13 jersey for the WorldCup.”

That one reply sums up the tenaciousand unflinching spirit coursing throughthe veins of Elen Evans.

Congratuations Elen on your halfcentury, you’re a credit to the gameand best of luck in the World Cup.

The Service Advisor from Dolgellau returned to the interna-tional fold in 2010 after a brief spell away from the game.

She can play either as a centre or wing. Speed obviouslyruns through the family as her uncle is Gwyndaf Evans,one of Wales’s best rally drivers in recent history.

Evans joined a select few when she raced over for a hattrick of tries against Scotland in the 2011 Six Nationschampionship. She finished the campaign with four triesto finish with 20 points - the squad’s highest scorer of thechampionship.

In the 2014 Six Nations championship the Dolgellau-basedEvans showed her versatility by playing centre, wingerthen full-back in consecutive games against Ireland,France and England.

Are we all looking forward to the WorldCup yet? 18 of the 20 teams are con-firmed, with only a Play-Off Winner and anAfrican qualifier to go, and it’s all to playfor in the Pool stages. Or so those promot-ing the event would like us all to think.

The reality is, of those 20 nations who willmake it to the finals, only five enter withany genuine uncertainty as to where theywill likely end up – Australia, England andWales in Pool A, Samoa and Scotland inPool B.

New Zealand and Argentina will be thelikely qualifiers from Pool C, with Franceand Ireland favourites from Pool D.

For my money, only two qualifiers willfinish up higher than they were seeded,and those are Scotland – I predict they willbeat Samoa to finish second in their pool,and England, who I think will win Pool A.For Wales, I suspect there will be disap-pointment, even though I have a feelingwe will beat Australia, and an early exitbeckons.

Regardless of how Pool A finishes, onething is certain – a genuine Tier 1 giantof the game is going to have to earn theirright to participate in 2019, rather thanbeing gifted it without having done muchto earn it, as is the case for the majority ofthe quarter-finalists. Two of those coun-tries have won the tournament on at leastone occasion, and the other has twicebeen a semi-finalist.

This, in my opinion, is excellent for thesport of rugby union. Regardless of whichside has to go through the ‘shame’ of hav-ing to qualify, the potential benefits to the

game are massive, and the IRB should beworking hard to make sure that more ofthe big names have to work for their spot,rather than showing up every four yearsas their right.

As much as it pains me to say it, weshould be following the lead of soccer,and only guaranteeing qualification to thehosts and the previous winners. Makeeveryone else earn their spot.

I know, I know – in the short term, it’s notgoing to affect who actually qualifies forthe tournament, as the strength in depthjust isn’t there for any genuine shocks atthis point, but if we ever want the pos-sibility of seeing Georgia, Tonga, USA orJapan becoming real forces with a chanceof progressing past the group stages, ithas to happen.

The problem, in a nutshell, is that theTier 1 nations have absolved themselvesof any responsibility for helping to de-velop the game in other countries, andhave worked hard to maintain a closedshop at the top of the game. Look at therecent criticisms of New Zealand and theircontinued reluctance to take a test sideto the Pacific Islands, for example, or theway that Romania, who were once regularvisitors to these shores (even beating us acouple of times, don’t forget!), have beencast aside from top-level competition.

For the record, the last time The Oakstook on Wales was in 2004, and we’venever faced Georgia at test level.

Georgia are only nine places below us inthe world rankings, and yet we’ve neverdeemed them acceptable opponents.There are Georgians playing at the high-est level of the game, for teams whoregularly beat the Welsh regions, and yetwe don’t play them. There are Georgiansplaying for the Welsh regions, even, andyet Wales don’t play Georgia.

That’s disgraceful.

These sides won’t ever progress intogenuine threats unless they are exposedto top-level competition regularly. As farback as 1987, Fiji were telling people thatthey would only improve if people cameto play them, and yet that still doesn’thappen. Perhaps the top nations just don’twant the threat to their positions? Afterall, we struggle to beat the Pacific Islandnations now, imagine if they were actuallygiven a fair crack at things!

Rugby union can’t ever be a global gamewith only a dozen strong nations, andeventually, people will tire of seeing thesame teams year after year. Look at howcrowds have diminished for the visitsof Australia and South Africa to Cardiff– there’s no novelty value anymore, andyou know if you miss them this time, they’llbe back soon enough. The only reasonthe All Blacks still pack the place out isbecause everyone wants to be there whenwe finally beat them.

No doubt, the WRU would point out theirannual Friday night Autumn International,which includes one of the lower-rankedsides of the game. Samoa are the mostfrequent opponent in recent years, alongwith their Pacific Islands brethren, but theaforementioned match with Romania in2004 was the last time a European na-tion were involved. Shouldn’t helping outdeveloping countries in our own continentbe the first priority?

If the invites to the Tier 1 party aren’t forth-coming, then the IRB should throw theirown party, and make sure no-one can turndown the invitation.

For the 6 Nations sides, this could meanvisits to Tblisi, to Bucharest, to Madrid,and wouldn’t that make for a nice change?

With no disrespect meant to Edinburgh etal, wouldn’t it be nice to go somewheredifferent once in a while?

And for the countries they would be visit-ing, the benefits could be massive, andnot just in terms of top-level development.A Welsh visit to Georgia or Romaniawould no doubt draw a strong travellingsupport, and a strong economic knock-onfor the host union – more gate receiptsas a given, and more advertising revenueif they know what they’re doing. It wouldalso be of economic benefit to the hostcity, which is something that would attractmore government interest and investmentin the game in countries where tourism isan important growth industry.

In terms of publicity, Italy have shown thatyou can generate interest in the game

Continued on next page

ReportbyBARRYWILLIAMS

TY

‘GeorgiaareonlynineplacesbelowusintheIRBworldrankings,andyetwe’veneverdeemedthemasacceptableopponents.’

without having to be the winning team,and the home side playing a genuinename in the game rather than anothersecond tier side would have more interestto the local press. Remember when Italyplayed in a 20,000 seat ground, and itwasn’t even full? Now they’re at an 80,000seat ground. It’s not quite full yet, but it willbe before too long.

Away from the game itself, travelling rugbyfans, whilst being known to enjoy a fewdrinks, don’t need the same level of super-vision as soccer fans, and generally createa good impression wherever they go withthe general public, which can create moreinterest.

For the host unions, this could be mas-sive. More money in the pot means morecan be done to draw more people to thegame and help develop young players.It wouldn’t surprise me if the RomanianRugby Union have less money comingin every year than the Welsh regions getfrom the WRU each season. On that sortof budget, there’s no way they can hopeto compete with the top dogs, with theirmulti-million development centres, profes-sional and semi-professional clubs andnumerous development officers.

From the perspective of the supporters,too, the opportunity to travel to some-where new would also be a massive posi-tive. When Italy joined the 6 Nations, thiswas definitely part of the initial appeal forthe travelling supporters from the other na-tions – the chance to go somewhere new,see some different sights, even little thingslike drink different types of beer!

This cultural exchange should be animportant part of the game, even in theprofessional era – helping to bring peopletogether, developing bonds between coun-tries and peoples, helping make the worlda better place. Sadly, that has been forgot-ten in the modern age, with the emphasison competition and the bottom line.

It’s all in the hands of the IRB, and nodoubt they’ll do what’s best for the gamein the long run. Sadly, when 16 of the 28votes on the IRB board are controlled bythose 8 nations who sit at the top table,change seems a bit unlikely, doesn’t it?

What do you think? Email your comments/obeservations to gwcymru1@aol.com

‘Romania,whowereonceregularvisitorstotheseshores(evenbeatingusacoupleoftimes,don’tforget!),havebeencastasidefromtop-levelcompetition.’

London Welsh will begin its Aviva Premier-ship campaign against Exeter Chiefs onSunday 7th September at the KassamStadium (kick-off 2pm).

London Welsh head coach Justin Burnellsaid: “We’re delighted to be at home forthe Club’s first game back in the AvivaPremiership. Sunday 7th September at theKassam Stadium will be a great oppor-tunity to show the people of Oxford whatthe Premiership is all about and hopefullywe can get a good crowd in and get thestadium bouncing.

“But we’re under no illusions as to the sizeof the task ahead of us this season. Wehave to be realistic and for us to maintainour place in the Premiership we have tobe targeting two wins from our first sixgames, and a minimum of five wins in all.”

It is a huge challenge but it’s one that Bur-nell and his coaching staff are very muchlooking forward to.

“The reason why we were successful lastseason was down to our work ethic andour environment,” he said.

“We thrived last year on the fact that therewas only ever one club that was supposedto win the Championship. We’re very pas-sionate about London Welsh and we lovedbeing knocked. We thrive on that.

“We don’t claim to be world beaters butwhat we will produce is a tremendousattitude. If we get beaten on the day by abetter team with better players then that’slife, but it certainly won’t be for a lack oftrying.

“The biggest thing that drives you as aplayer or as a coach is that you want topit yourself against the best. As a coachyou’re competing against some of the best

coaches in the world and that’s wheretechnical and tactical knowledge has tocome to the fore.

“Our three assistant coaches, as well asour conditioners and medical staff, willall have to be at the top of their game,because it’s not just about competingagainst good players, it’s also about com-peting against some of the best staff in theworld.”

Since winning the Championship on June4, Welsh have announced 19 new sign-ings and with more expected Burnell isconfident that squad being assembled canbe competitive in the Premiership.

“This week has been our first week backin training and I’ve already been very im-pressed with the attitude of the new play-ers, and by how quickly they’ve settled inand adapted to the London Welsh ethos,”he added.

“With our drive and focus, hopefully wecan go on to maintain our Aviva Premier-ship status.”

SEPTEMBER7 Exeter Chiefs (H) 2pm13 Bath (A) 3pm20 Sale Sharks (A) 2pm26 Gloucester Rugby (H) 7:45pm

OCTOBER4 Harlequins (A) 3pm11 Newcastle Falcons (H) 2:30pm

NOVEMBER16 Wasps (A) 2pm23 Leicester Tigers (H) 2:30pm30 Northampton Saints (H) 2:30pm

DECEMBER20 Saracens (A) 3pm26 London Irish (A) 3pm

JANUARY4 Harlequins (H) 2:30pm11 Newcastle Falcons (A) 3pm

FEBRUARY15 Sale Sharks (H) 2:30pm21 Gloucester Rugby (A) 3pm28 London Irish (H) 2:30pm

MARCH7 Exeter Chiefs (A) 3pm29 Bath Rugby (H) 2:30pm

APRIL12 Wasps (H) 2:30pm25 Leicester Tigers (A) 3pm

MAY9 Northampton Saints (A) 3pm16 Saracens (H) TBC

The 2014/15 Premiership season will seeSunday afternoons at the Kassam Sta-dium in Oxford (kick-off 2:30pm) becomesynonymous with London Welsh (unlesson occasions when dictated otherwise bytelevision), with the club having committedto playing its home games at the KassamStadium for the next three years.

WRUNEWS

Clamour for Walestickets helps clubssays Sam WarburtonWales squad captain Sam Warburton hasendorsed a new scheme from the WRUwhich enables fans to directly fund theirlocal clubs.

Wales squad captain Sam Warburton hasendorsed a new scheme from the WelshRugby Union (WRU) which enables fansto directly fund their local clubs by simplychanging the way they shop for interna-tional match tickets.

Warburton, who missed Wales recent tourof South Africa with a shoulder problem, isin pre-season training and on schedule toreturn to a_ction for Cardiff Blues with theultimate aim of returning to the interna-tional scene this Autumn.

Wales face South Africa, Australia, Fijiand New Zealand in the Dove Men Seriesin November with prices at the Millen-nium Stadium next season ranging from£10 to £20, for Fiji (tier 2), and from £25,£40, £60 and £70 for the clashes withthe Springboks and the Wallabies, withconcessions at 50% of full ticket pricewithin price band B and group offers alsoavailable for the Fiji match.

To watch the All Blacks face Warren Gat-land’s Wales tickets start at £30 to £50,£75 and £80 and for Wales RBS 6 Nationsclashes with England and Ireland thelowest price tickets are £35, with £55, £80and £85 categories also available.

A new scheme from the WRU is now giv-ing commission to rugby clubs, of up to£2,000 per club, and in some cases morewhen full allocations are sold, and fanscan help ensure their local communityclubs benefit from the scheme by purchas-ing their international rugby tickets directlyfrom them.

And Warburton has joined the campaignto actively encourage fans to purchase alltheir Millennium Stadium match tickets attheir local club by, instead of going online,where you will attract transaction fees.

“You never forget your first club and Ihave a huge amount of gratitude for all thecoaches and parents and other volunteersat Rhiwbina and Glamorgan Wanderersrugby clubs, people who gave up theirtime to encourage me and my team-matesfrom a young age,” said Warburton, whorepresented Wales at all age grade levelsbefore being appointed Wales captainin 2011 and leading the British and IrishLions in 2013.

“Without that encouragement I wouldn’tbe where I am today and wouldn’t havehad the privilege of pulling on the nationaljersey and representing my country.

“You always try and give of your best in anational shirt and you play for your familyand friends, your team and your countryand yourself, but also for all those peoplewho have helped you along the way.

“Everyone has to start somewhere andyour local rugby club can be a vital part ofa player’s formative years.

“The idea that fans can directly help theirlocal clubs through purchasing tickets forinternational matches is one that I’m surewill appeal to many.

“Welsh rugby is built on the foundations ofits member clubs, so it’s great news thatfans can now have a direct impact on thefuture success of our national game bysimply using the clubs to buy their tickets.”

With both England and Ireland also travel-ling to Cardiff in the new year for mouth-watering RBS 6 Nations clashes on theMillennium Stadium’s new hybrid pitchsystem, the clamour for international tick-ets for the year ahead has already begun.

But, under the WRU’s constitution, ac-cess will be granted first to its 320-strongnetwork of members clubs, making clubsthe best way to guarantee access to thematches you want to see.

The new scheme for clubs, which coversthe tier one clashes with the All Blacksand England as well as matches againstAustralia, South Africa (Dove) and Ireland(RBS), means that for each individualticket sold that club will also receive acash gift from the WRU.

A further benefit to clubs is that if theysell their full allocation of tickets for thetier one matches described they will beawarded a full supply of senior side kitfor the 2015/2016 season, for a 23-mansquad, by official WRU partner UnderArmour - in addition to the existing 15% offall UA kit offer which is already in place for2014/2015 for all Welsh clubs.

Wales home fixtures for 2014/2015Dove Men Series 2014Saturday, 8th Nov: Wales v Australia,Millennium Stadium, 14h30Saturday, 15th November: Wales v Fiji,Millennium Stadium, 14h30Saturday, 22nd November: Wales v NewZealand, Millennium Stadium, 17h30Saturday, 29th November: Wales v SouthAfrica, 14h30

RBS 6 Nations 2015Friday, 6th February: Wales v England,Millennium Stadium 20h05Saturday 14th March: Wales v Ireland,Millennium Stadium 14h30