Rhymney
FOLLOW US ONLINE TWITTER.COM/RUGBYCLUBMAG
Rhymney
R
RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB
hymney RFC enjoyed a fantastic season this time
around and the club was rewarded with a well-deserved
promotion. Rugby Club Magazine recently caught up with their
President Phil Atkinson to find out more about the club.
He told us, “It’s currently even more
of a pleasure than usual to serve the
Club, though others now do most of the
work and they deserve great credit both
on and off the field, from the minis to the
Youth and Seniors and occasional Vets. I
encourage, take pictures, do the website
and social media and run a few dinners,
but it is all easier when you are having
some on-field success. You have to enjoy
it while you can: Welsh and wider rugby
these days is on a real tightrope and too
many are falling off.”
“Since our last promotion eight
years ago we have had some real ups
and downs, and it is when and if you
survive the hard parts that the good
times are all the more appreciated. The
Officers and Committee, with significant
and vital female input have kept things
afloat through very tricky times, while
the coaching and morale work of former
Head Coach, now Youth supremo Sean
Murphy is the basis not only for onfield
survival but also the development
of the promising outfit which the
overwhelmingly young senior XV have
become. (Sorry, Chrissie Richards!)
“New senior coach Jon Hughes, also
young in the job but a WRU Hub Officer
based at Bedwas School down-valley,
has built very well on those foundations
with player-coach assistant Bleddyn
90 Issue 86
Corns and another youthful skipper in
versatile back Liam ‘Chopper’ Davies.
Another hub officer, Jake Allen at the
local Rhymney School, has helped too
with the flourishing Junior Section, with
numbers often bucking the trend, the
recent festival another great success and
the Club winning the Community Club
of the Year in the WRU District in 2017-
18. Parents and volunteers are as ever
crucial in helping here. The renowned
spirit of ‘The Brewers’ (though the
famous local brewery is long gone) was