Swansea RFC

Swansea RFC

Full name	Swansea Rugby Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Jacks The Whites
Founded	1874[1]
Location	Swansea, Wales
Ground(s)	St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground (Capacity: 4,500)
Captain(s)	Sam Kiley
League(s)	WRU Championship
2014/15	2nd[2]
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.swansearfc.co.uk

Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Championship. Its home ground is St Helens Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea. The team is also known as The Whites because of the primary colour of the team strip. The club is a feeder club to the Ospreys.

History

The club was founded in 1874 and, in 1881 it became one of the eleven founder clubs of the Welsh Rugby Union.^[3][4]

In the early twentieth century Swansea RFC was an extremely successful club. For four consecutive seasons Swansea were the unofficial Welsh champions from the 1898/99 season through to 1901/02, coinciding with the heyday of Swansea's first star player Billy Bancroft. Under the captaincy of Frank Gordon the team would later go on a 22-month unbeaten run, from December 1903 through to October 1905. During this period Swansea appeared to be under-represented at international level. Gordon himself went uncapped throughout his entire career, and apart from Billy Trew, Dick Jones and Dicky Owen, the only other internationals in the senior team were forward Sid Bevan (1 cap),^[5] wing Jowett (1 cap)^[6] and outside-half Phil Hopkins (4 caps).^[7] Trew (29 caps) was an outstanding centre who was accepted as one of the most important players in the evolution of Welsh rugby,^[8] while Dicky Owen (35 caps), although only 5 foot 4 inches tall, was an incredible tactician.^[9]

The immediate post war years brought only limited success, although a notable 6-6 draw was achieved against New Zealand in 1953 followed by a 9-8 victory against Australia in 1966. It was not until the club’s centenary season in 1973/74, however, that the club became Merit Table Champions. Swansea achieved further success as club champions in 1979/80, 1980/81, 1982/83 as well as Welsh cup winners in 1978.

Players during this period included Clem Thomas, Billy Williams, Dewi Bebb, Mervyn Davies, Geoff Wheel, David Richards and Mark Wyatt, the club's record points scorer with 2,740 points scored between 1976/77 and 1991/92.

The 1990s saw success for the club, including being league champions on 4 occasions (1991/92, 1993/94, 1997/98 and 2000/01) and Welsh cup winners in 1995 and 1999. A memorable 21-6 victory was recorded over then World champions Australia at St Helens on 4 November 1992. In season 1995/96 Swansea reached the semi-final stage of the European Cup. This period also included disputes with the Welsh Rugby Union over the way the league structure was being run in Wales following rugby union's move to being a professional game, which culminated in the club's boycott of the 1998/99 league season, in what was referred to as the rebel season.^[10]

The 2003/04 season has seen a significant change with the introduction of regional rugby in Wales. Swansea Rugby Football Club Ltd, alongside Neath RFC are co-owners of the Ospreys. As a result, Swansea RFC returned to being an amateur team. Since the change to regional rugby Several players have played for Swansea RFC, as well Ospreys and Wales including Alun Wyn Jones, Ryan Jones, Scott Baldwin, Nicky Smith, Matthew Morgan, Eli Walker, Gavin Henson and Dan Biggar.

In 2014 the All Whites were relegated from the Welsh Premier league on the final day of the season when despite beating Neath at St Helens, a bonus point for Aberavon sent Swansea into the SWALEC Championship. This provoked a complete revamp of the club with Stephen Hughes taking the position of Chairman, Keith Colclough as Managing Director and Richard Lancaster leading a coaching team of former players including Rhodri Jones, Chris Loader and Ben Lewis. In their first season Swansea missed out on promotion back to the Premiership, finishing in second place overall.

Achievements

Swansea RFC defeated New Zealand 11-3 on Saturday 28 September 1935, becoming the first ever club side to beat the All Blacks.^[11]

In November 1992, Swansea RFC defeated world champions Australia 21-6, when Australia played their first match of their Welsh Tour.

Welsh Premier Division champions in:

• 1991/1992
• 1993/1994
• 1997/1998
• 2000/2001

Welsh Cup champions in:

• 1977/1978
• 1994/1995
• 1998/1999

Whitbread Merit Table champions in:

• 1980/1981

Snelling Sevens champions in:

• 1982
• 1989
• 1991
• 1995

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Scott Baldwin Hooker Wales Paul John Hooker Wales Oliver Pardoe Hooker Wales Owen Phillips Hooker Wales Alun Rees Hooker Wales Andrew Clatworthy Prop Wales Tim Evans Prop Wales Roy Jones Prop Wales Lee May Prop Wales Marc O'Kelly Prop Wales Nicky Smith Prop Wales Will Taylor Prop Wales Nicky Thomas Prop Wales Paul Arnold Lock Wales James Goode Lock Wales Rhodri Hughes Lock Wales Jack Jones Lock Wales Richard Kelly Lock Wales Dan Baker Flanker Wales James Bija Flanker Wales David Blyth Flanker Wales Ben Fox Flanker Wales Steffan Jones Flanker Wales Sam Kiley Flanker Wales Ben Lewis Flanker Wales Sam Lewis Flanker Wales Tom Morgan Flanker Wales Rory Pitman Number 8 Wales

Player Position Union Tom Isaacs Scrum-half Wales Aled Lewis Scrum-half Wales Phil Tucker Scrum-half Wales Rhodri Wells Scrum-half Wales Sam Davies Fly-half Wales James Dixon Fly-half Wales James Garland Fly-half Wales Lloyd Thomas Fly-half Wales Hanno Dirksen Centre Wales Nick Harwood Centre Wales Chris Shelmerdine Centre Wales David Watts Centre Wales Leigh Bevan Wing Wales Luke Hathaway Wing Wales Rhys Jones Wing Wales Eli Walker Wing Wales Nicky Thomas Fullback Wales

British and Irish Lions

The following former players were selected for the British and Irish Lions touring squads whilst playing for Swansea RFC.

Dewi Bebb 1962,1966[5] Sid Bevan 1904 Colin Charvis 2001 Tony Clement 1989,1993 Tom David 1974 Mervyn Davies 1974 Trevor Evans 1977 John Faull 1959 Scott Gibbs 1993,1997,2001 Rowe Harding 1924 Robert Jones 1989,1993

Fred Jowett 1904 Edgar Morgan 1908 Eddie Morgan 1938 Darren Morris 2001 Dai Parker 1930 David Richards 1980 Haydn Tanner 1938[12] Mark Taylor 2001 Clem Thomas 1955 Richard Webster 1993 Clive Williams 1980 Billy Williams 1955

Wales International Captains

The following former players captained the Wales national rugby union team whilst playing for Swansea RFC.

See also Wales rugby union captains

William Bowen 1891 Billy Bancroft 1898-1901 Dicky Owen 1907-12 Billy Trew 1907-13 Jack Bancroft 1912 Tom Parker 1921-23 Joe Rees 1924 Rowe Harding 1924-28 Guy Morgan 1929-30 Watcyn Thomas 1933 Claude Davey 1934-37[13]

Idwal Rees 1936-37 Clem Thomas 1958-59 Mervyn Davies 1975-76 Richard Moriarty 1986-87 Robert Jones 1989-90 Scott Gibbs 1997 Mark Taylor 2000 Andy Moore 2001 Colin Charvis 2002-04

Other notable former players

The players listed below have played for Swansea and have also played international rugby.

William Richard Arnold[5] Paul Arnold Rob Appleyard Huw Bennett Bleddyn Bowen Maurice Colclough Malcolm Dacey Stuart Davies Ben Evans Frank Gordon James Griffiths David Gwynn George Hayward Gavin Henson Richard Hibbard David James Evan James Garin Jenkins Ryan Jones

Geraint Lewis Brian Lima Christian Loader Sililo Martens Robin McBryde William McCutcheon Ivor Morgan Kevin Morgan Matthew Morgan Paul Moriarty Richie Pugh Dan Rees Clive Rowlands Mike Ruddock Arwel Thomas Watcyn Thomas[14] Bleddyn Taylor Nik Witkowski Geoff Wheel Brynmor Williams Dai Young Dan Baker

Games played against international opposition

Year	Date	Opponent	Result	Score	Tour
1888	24 December	Māori	Loss	0-5	1888 New Zealand Māori tour
1905	30 December	New Zealand	Loss	3-4	1905 Original All Blacks tour
1908	26 December	Australia	Win	6-0	1908-09 Australia tour of the British Isles and France
1912	26 December	South Africa	Win	3-0	1912-13 South Africa rugby union tour
1931	10 October	South Africa	Loss	3-10	1931-32 South Africa rugby union tour
1935	28 September	New Zealand	Win	11-3	1935 All Blacks tour
1951	15 December	South Africa	Loss	3-11	1951 South African tour
1953	12 December	New Zealand	Draw	6-6	1953/54 All Blacks tour of the British Isles, France and North America
1963	14 December	New Zealand	Loss	9-16	1963/64 All Blacks tour of the British Isles, France and Canada
1966	26 November	Australia	Win	9-8	1966-67 Australia tour of Britain, Ireland and France
1973	8 September	Fiji	Loss	0-31	1973 Fiji tour of the British Isles and Canada[15]
1973	3 November	Australia	Draw	9-9	1973 Australia rugby union tour of Europe[16]
1975	29 November	Australia	Loss	6-12	1975-76 Australia tour of Britain and Ireland[17]
1980	25 October	New Zealand	Loss	0-32	1980 All Blacks tour[18]
1981	28 November	Australia	Loss	3-12	1981-82 Australia tour of Britain & Ireland[19]
1982	30 October	New Zealand Māori	Win	15-12	1982 New Zealand Māori rugby union tour of Wales
1984	30 October	Australia	Loss	7-17	1984 Australia tour of Britain and Ireland
1985	16 October	Fiji	Loss	14-23	1985 Fiji tour of the British Isles[20]
1989	21 October	New Zealand	Loss	22-37	1989 New Zealand rugby union tour of the British Isles and Canada[21]
1992	4 November	Australia	Win	21-6	1992 Australian Tour[22]

Bibliography

• Smith, David; Williams, Gareth (1980). Fields of Praise: The Official History of The Welsh Rugby Union. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-0766-3.

References

1. The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales, John Davies, Nigel Jenkins, Menna Baines and Peredur Lynch (2008) pp782 ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6
2. WRU Official Site - Sourced 22 May 2015
3. Swansea Rugby Football Club 1873-1945 Book - Images of Sport, Bleddyn Hopkins. Tempus Publishing
4. Smith (1980), pg 41.
5. Smith (1980), pg 463.
6. Smith (1980), pg 468.
7. Smith (1980), pg 134.
8. The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales, John Davies, Nigel Jenkins, Menna Baines and Peredur Lynch (2008) pp782 ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6
9. Smith (1980), pg 132.
10. Laybourn, Ian (1998-08-22). "Rebel clubs secede from WRU". The Independent (Independent Print Limited).
11. All Blacks: 288th All Black Game
12. Smith (1980), pg 472.
13. Smith (1980), pg 464.
14. Smith (1980), pg 473.
15. Fiji Rugby.com
16. Jenkins, Vivian (1974). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1974-75. Queen Anne Press. p. 36. ISBN 0-362-00173-1.
17. Jenkins, Vivian (1976). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1976-77. Queen Anne Press. p. 22. ISBN 0-362-00281-9.
18. Jenkins, Vivian (1982). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1981-82. Rothmans Publications Ltd. p. 42. ISBN 0-907574-05-X.
19. Jenkins, Vivian (1983). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1982-83. Rothmans Publications Ltd. p. 24. ISBN 0-907574-13-0.
20. Fiji Rugby.com
21. All Blacks.com
22. Swansea RFC - World champions beaten!

External links

• Swansea RFC/The Whites
• Ospreys Official Website
• Welsh Rugby Union