Boxing Day 2010 - Rugby in the snow.

Tom Davies takes on Coach Keith Burke

On a day when the majority of the borough’s sportsmen were wrapped up warm at home, the annual Boxing Day fixture at Bridgend Sports RFC proved a real Christmas Cracker, as players refused to be put off by the 6 inches of snow covering the pitch.

Besides the occasional hardy dog walker, there was hardly a soul in Newbridge Fields on this arctic boxing day morning, but it is a tribute to the spirit and atmosphere at Bridgend Sports RFC that players from the 1sts, 2nds, Youth, and Youngstars all turned up to play this friendly game of touch rugby. It was great to see experienced senior players like Ian and Roddy Boobyer playing alongside up and coming players like District U11s star Tom Davies and Youth Team Fly-Half Nathan Collins. They may be at very different points in their rugby careers, but on this day they were all the same, they were just boys playing in the snow!

Roddy and Ian Boobyer in  action

Mitch John

Two of the stars of the show were Canadian Jens Eggen and returning Centre Mitch John. Mitch has spent several months in Canada playing at Jens’ club The Lloydminster Reapers. Both looked quite at home in the snow, with 2009-2010 top try scorer Mitch John even wearing shorts and t-shirt for the occasion!

The game itself was played in a friendly and relaxed manner. The teams played two 20 minute halves with factors such as “the score” and “rules” proving of very little importance, although referee John Brewer did take the opportunity to do what many referees up and down the land have come close to doing, he gave seasoned campaigner Ian Boobyer a red card!

Referee John Brewer shows an early red card

This game was a great display of the brotherhood of rugby, would any other sport invoke such a passion amongst it’s players? I’m sure the promise of free beer in the clubhouse afterwards helped!

Published in the Glamorgan Gazette 30/12/10

To see all my photos from the day, visit

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=596204&id=624640455&l=edbcfa579f

UWIC Rugby League Dominate in 2010

UWIC Rugby League go into the festive break as runaway leaders of the BUCS Wales and West League with 7 wins from their first 7 games at an average score of 49-13. And, after a recent comprehensive 58-10 victory over their nearest challengers Gloucester University 2nds, you would struggle to find anyone to disagree that they are destined to become league champions.


Their outstanding form has ensured that they have one of the best playing records in the whole of the UK.
The Official British Universities and Colleges Rugby League form table has them ranked 2^nd out of 64 teams, placed between the big names Nottingham Trent University and Leeds Metropolitan University.

Team Manager Paul Horrocks says “UWIC Rugby League have had a really positive first term both on and off the field. We started with 45 students at our first training session and social, and have retained the majority of those boys. We are working hard to return to the Premier South and have been successful so far. We have three more group games and the knockouts in which to express our intentions and meet our targets as a squad, whilst building towards a second team to enter into BUCS, hopefully for next season.” 

Izaak Duffy

While this season has been a great team effort, special mention should be made of popular forward Izaak Duffy who performed so well at the recent South Wales Scorpions Trials that he has been added to their training squad for 2011, and hopes to add his name to the long list of former players that have made a name for themselves in the sport.

The players look forward to returning after the Christmas break to complete the league undefeated and then see how far they can get in the knockout phase of the competition, there will certainly be some teams over the border who wouldn’t fancy playing them on this form.

Elsewhere in the league Swansea University sit in third place with 3 wins from their 6 games, and both Glamorgan and Aberystwth can boast a victory over English opposition in the form of Bristol University. Players from all 4 welsh teams will be looking to finish the season well with places in Clive Griffiths’ successful Wales Student Squad up for grabs in the Spring.

Article Published in full on the Official Wales Rugby League Website on 19/12/10

and in the South Wales Echo on 22/12/10