Mountain Ash RFC recently held its senior presentation evening to bring the curtain down on the 150th season of the club, with BBC presenter Phil Steele the guest speaker.
Mount won the Nantyglo 7s in the lead-up to the season but made a poor start to the Championship East fixtures, then won 9 from 10 games, but slumped back into indifferent form and won just two and drew one from the last 11 games, eventually finishing 9th on 51 points.
The Athletic XV were another team which had an inconsistent season, but they ended strongly, winning the Ivor Williams Cup with a 32-10 win over Beddau in the final.
The award winners for the season were as follows:
1st XV Player of the Year: Tommy Hunt
2nd XV Player of the Year: Dafydd Kingston
1st XV Players’ Player of the Year: Bleddyn Lock
2nd XV Players’ Player of the Year: McGinley Price
Most Promising 1st XV Player: Lewis Veale
Most Promising 2nd XV Player: Rhys Pullman
1st XV Supporters Player of the Year: Calyde Mullock
2nd XV Supporters Player of the Year: Ethan Davies
The playing season ended in style with a 10 day tour to Toronto and Niagara Falls and a game versus Brampton Beavers in Toronto, which was won 20-0.
The club has confirmed its coaching set up for the season ahead and its pre-season games. Bleddyn Corns is the Director of Rugby, Callum Hall the Backs Coach, and Corey Hewlett the Forwards Coach. Andrew Calderbank is the Team Manager.
Training starts at 6:30pm on Thursday 2 July and will continue on a Monday and Thursday throughout July but then switch to Tuesdays and Thursdays in August. All players are invited. Please meet in the changing rooms under the Stand at the club’s ground, Duffryn Pennar Park.
Pre-Season Schedule
Saturday 11 July: Nantyglo 7s
Saturday 18 July: Green Mile Training Camp
Saturday 25 July: Whiteheads 7s
Saturday 8 August: Swansea University H, kick off 2:30pm on Duffryn Pennar Park
Saturday 15 August: Aberaeron 1st/2nds and Youth Away
Saturday 22 August: 2nd XV v Deri, kick off 12:30pm, Duffryn Pennar Park
1st XV v Trebanos, kick off 2:30pm, Duffryn Pennar Park
Youth XV v Trebanos, kick off 2:30pm, The Rec
Thursday 27 August: Nantyglo A
Saturday 29 August: No game due to Bank Holiday
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Mount Youngsters Hitting The Heights
Two young players who have come through the mini and junior section of Mountain Ash RFC have recently made their mark.
Second row Kenzie Jenkins played for the club’s junior teams, then the Youth, before being spotted and signed by Bristol Bears where he is now under the tutelage of Pat Lam. He was capped by Wales at Under 18 and 20 level between 2023 and 2025. Last season, he played half a dozen games for the Bears, four in the Prem Rugby Cup, once against an Argentinian XV, and on Saturday 6 June made his debut in the Gallagher Premiership in the game away to Sale.
Although a rugby union club, Mountain Ash RFC has a lot of past players who made the switch to rugby league, some of which attained high honours. Back in the 1950s, Dickie Williams captained the Great Britain squad Down Under in 1954 and forward John Thorley was a member of the Great Britain team which won the Rugby League World Cup. In the 1970s, Brian Juliff went on to play professional rugby league with Wakefield Trinity, Castleford, Halifax and Wigan, and represent Wales eight times. The latest Mount player to play league is Under 16 player Ruben Main. He was recently capped by Wales Under 17s in their games versus Scotland and England.
All at Mountain Ash RFC wish these two players well in the years ahead.
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