KELLY'S THE HERO AS USW PROGRESS TO BUCS SEMI-FINAL

The University of South Wales continued to show why they are considered to be the top student side in Wales with a 14-10 victory over Bath in the Quarter-Final of the BUCS Trophy.

Bath would have been buoyed by their previous visit to USW when they finished the stronger side and could well have caused an upset if that match was 85 minutes long rather than 80. USW held on for a 24-20 win on that occasion.

USW have averaged 32 points per match in BUCS League 1A West this season, but it was clear from the outset that this would be a much tighter affair.

In a tight first half there was little to separate the sides with USW having the edge in the physical battle in the middle, and Bath looking more dangerous out wide.

A single converted try to each side tied the scores at 6-6 at half-time, and USW had to face the next 40 minutes without powerful Scorpions forward Osian Phillips who left the field during the first half with a painful looking hand injury.

With time ticking on it was a case of "Cometh the hour, cometh the man" as half-back James Kelly first kicked a penalty and then chipped ahead to score a classy try. He then converted his own try to make the score 14-6 and take his personal tally to 10.

Bath struck back with a try of their own to make the score 14-10 and set up a tight finish.

USW seemed incapable or unwilling to simply see the game out with safety sets and continued to try unnecessary offloads in search of further points. 

In the final few minutes USW Captain Harrison Elliott felt he had pushed his way over for a nerve-settling try, but the tiring referee was not in a position to award the try.

To their relief the final whistle came preventing a Bath comeback and USW progress to the Semi-Final to play Nottingham University.

My Biggest Match

This weekend I will be photographing the longest match of rugby ever played!

Leicester Tigers' Welford Road Stadium will be the venue for this 26hr feat of endurance as 44 brave souls take on this extreme challenge in the name of forces' charity “Scotty's Little Soldiers”.

Each player in the squad of 22 will have just 20 minutes rest every 4 hours as they seek to set an Official Guinness world record and raise as much as they can for the children of fallen soldiers.

There are two reasons why I call this “my biggest match”, the first is obviously the length of the game, but the second is of far more significance.

To date I’ve photographed rugby on 201 occasions and covered everything from local school matches to full Wales Rugby League Internationals but after 6 years I’m left asking “What's the purpose of it all?”

Sure it's fun to capture a cool Facebook profile picture for a local player and feel the rush of popularity as the players huddle around to digest the photos from that day's match. And equally it's a buzz to strut around the edge of a pitch at a Rugby League International wearing official “stash” and feel part of the occasion.

The reality however is that for many of the players you are just seen as the provider of photographs and nothing more, turning up at a game without your camera is seen as a cardinal sin as everywhere you go you are greeted with “where's your camera?” Then despite the surface vernier of being the photographer of a Wales Rugby League International, the truth is that you have bought the stash yourself on eBay, you pass the photos on for free, and never receive a single penny for your efforts.

For me photographing rugby started as a hobby and I think that is where it's destined to return. The only way to make it anything like financially viable is to work for a soulless agency whose photographers appear to go through the motions as if it's just any other job, once they have the photo their office require they send if off via their laptops and head out of the ground as soon as they can, caring little for the outcome of the match.

When the offer to photograph for Scotty's Little Soldiers came along I jumped at the chance to be part of something that mattered. Sure it will be hard work, I get back ache after just 40 minutes so 26hrs will be a journey into the unknown but still nothing compared to the challenge faced by the heroic players. My hope is that sales of prints after the game via my website www.PaulHartPhotography.co.uk will enable me to make my own contribution to the fund of £40,000 already raised by the players and other supporters.

If you are able to attend, the match kicks-off at 11am on Friday May 31^st at Leicester RFC. All profits from my prints will be donated to the cause via http://www.bmycharity.com/paulhart please visit my page and donate too if you are able­.

Me & Mr.Olds

Ollie Olds.  Page taken from
"The Heart and the Art of my Rugby Photography"

I'm pleased to announce that I will be Sponsoring Wales Rugby League International Ollie Olds during the coming rugby league season as he returns from Leeds U20s to play for the South Wales Scorpions.
 The picture you see to the left is one that I took the first time I photographed Ollie play. It was January 28th 2009 and Brynteg School had a Saturday morning fixture against Plasmawr School. I remember very little about that game as after almost 200 games they all tend to merge into one for me. But what I do remember vividly is the conversation I had a few days later with Paul Bowen - Ollie's coach at Brynteg. I had gone in to give him free copies of the photos I'd taken as being a former Brynteg pupil I was glad to go back and help out. We were looking through a few of the photos together and I remarked how Ollie looked a lot younger than the other players and questioned if he was old enough to play in the senior side. He looked me straight in the eye and with total conviction said "gooooood player!" and as a man who had coached the likes of British Lions Dafydd James and Gavin Henson at Brynteg in recent years, he certainly knew what he was talking about.
 As with all the players I've photographed at youth and grass roots level I like to follow the progress of their careers, and having photographed Ollie again in further Brynteg games and for Wales at age-grade level, I was delighted to see him return to South Wales as a full Wales International. This made him the 4th player I'd photographed go on to gain International honours after Christiaan Roets (Wales Rugby League) Andrew Hoggins (Germany Rugby League) and Tom McGarr (Ireland Rugby League), and with the likes of Lloyd Peers, Matthew "Nipper" Morgan, and Tom Habberfield looking like they have every chance of adding to that list in the future I'm enjoying sitting back and watching the list grow. Good luck lads!

Book Launch from PHP Publications

PHP Publications are delighted to announce their debut publication from Paul Hart of www.PaulHartPhotography.co.uk
This quality hardback book has 288 pages and is bursting with over 300 quality photographs that provide a unique insight into grass roots sport as they capture the action, the people, and the passion of rugby matches in South Wales during five seasons from 2007 to 2012.
The book will be released on September 1st 2012 with a RRP of £20, and will be available from www.PHPpublications.com.
Please contact PaulHartPhotography@Gmail.com with any questions.

Preview - South Wales Students Rugby League Challenge Match.

© PaulHartPhotography.co.uk

This Sunday sees a bumper day of Rugby League at the famous Gnoll Stadium in Neath. A 1PM fixture between the South Wales Scorpions and Whitehaven will be followed by the first ever “South Wales Students Rugby League Challenge Match” between UWIC (Cardiff Met) and Swansea University at 3:15pm.

On paper UWIC go into the game as the big favourites following a successful season in the BUCS National South that saw them progress into the BUCS Championship Competition for the top 8 sides in the country. Conversely Swansea played in the BUCS Wales & West League, and were then disappointingly dumped out of the third tier BUCS Shield competition in the Preliminary round. Without doubt Swansea will want to prove they are better than these raw stats suggest, and give a big performance on the day.

While there are Wales Student Internationals on both sides, UWIC will again have the upper hand on paper in regards to the status of their players, with current Irish International Tom McGarr in their ranks along with new Scorpions signing Callum Wilkinson.

Paul Horrocks, club president of the UWIC side stated "Both universities have worked particularly hard in the previous few years to build respectable and competitive teams. This will be a great occasion to show off all that hard work and hopefully provide a wonderful experience for everyone involved. It has the potential to be another step in the right direction for Rugby League and the student game in Wales. Long may it continue."

Deri Galvin, club president of the Swansea side said: "Students at Swansea are eagerly awaiting the inaugural South Wales Students Rugby League Challenge Match. The match caters for the growing interest in Rugby League in Swansea and will no doubt be an exciting spectacle in a fantastic environment.

This match provides a huge opportunity both sets of players to perform at a great rugby venue, and if they impress the onlooking coaches from the South Wales Scorpions and new feeder side the South Wales Hornets, this game at the Gnoll could become the first of many for them.

Rochdale Tag Festival Roundup

There was a strong Welsh presence once again this year at the prestigious Rochdale Swarm International Mixed Tag Rugby League Festival, with the two top sides in Wales – The Celtic Barbarians and the Bridgend Blue Heifers both sending strong sides on the 450 mile round trip.

There was great camaraderie between the two sides on the first evening as they put aside their traditional rivalry to form the core of a Welsh select side to take part in an international tournament. They can be proud of their efforts as they reached the final and managed an excellent 3-3 draw against the favourites England.

The main tournament itself adopted the traditional format used in competitions such as Rugby Sevens, where finishing positions in the group phase dictated which of the knock-out competitions the teams entered.

The Heifers won two of their three league games, with their only loss coming at the hands of eventual overall winners Notting Hill. This meant the Heifers went into the second tier Plate Competition which was one step up from the third tier Bowl which they won last year in an all-welsh final against the Barbarians.

In contrast, the Barbarians were drawn in “The Group of Death” and lost all three games, placing them in the fourth tier Shield Competition.

In the knock-out phase the Heifers were unfortunate to be drawn against local side Littleborough Lightning, a “bogey side” for the Heifers as they had lost to them the year before. Littleborough repeated their performance of 12 months ago and the Heifers were knocked out of the second tier Plate at the semi-final stage.

This left the Barbarians as the last Welsh side standing, and after a tough semi-final win they found themselves in the final of the Shield competition, but with injuries has piling up and they were struggling to continue. Enter the Heifers, a number of Heifers answered the call of their Barbarian brothers and donned to Pink and Black shirts to help their old rivals over the finish line to be crowned Shield Champions 2011.

Published on the Official Wales Rugby League Website - 1st June 2011

UWIC cap fine season with awards

UWIC Coach
Paul Horrocks

It has been a fantastic season for Rugby League at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff! Coach Paul Horrocks and his team had the BUCS Wales & West title "in the bag" soon after the Christmas break, and then went on to gain promotion to the Premier South with an excellent playoff victory over Nottingham Trent.

Not content with these achievements alone, the team pushed on! 8 players were on duty at the Student Home Nations, with Simon Wright, Jon Trickey, Callum Wilkinson, Scott Amber, Paul Horrocks, Carwyn Richards, and Josh Davies representing Wales, and Tom McGarr representing Ireland.

Also, Dominic Pullen has been selected to appear for Scotland "A" this summer, and Andrew Hoggins has been selected in the senior German squad.

The season was rounded off in style with an excellent showing at the annual UWIC Sports awards where the team won "Most Improved Team" and Coach Paul Horrocks won "Best Student Administrator / Organiser"

Horrocks remarked "These awards show the University is taking an interest in the growth of Rugby League, this is a big acknowledgement of our achievements, hopefully we will be pushing for even more prestigious awards such as overall team of the year next year."

7 Student Internationals from UWIC