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06
BRECON RFC
NEW PLAYER
& COACH DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
Many of us who have been involved with the club for some time will know Gareth – Gazzo – very well. For those less familiar with him it is worth noting his long involvement with the Club as a player and now of cial.
Gareth started playing rugby at Mount Street School and then at Brecon High School and with our Youth team.
He joined the senior ranks and quickly established himself as an outstanding prop who was not only strong in the scrum but was remarkably mobile and a good all round footballer. When he left to work in Aberystwyth he made the journey back to Brecon to train and play, showing outstanding commitment to the team. When he nally transferred to Worcester he was sorely missed. He had a successful period there and the respect he commanded was clearly illustrated when he was elected as captain.
On returning to Brecon, Gareth made a nal commitment on the playing side as he added his “weight” of/and experience to support the team in their rst season in Division 1. Having retired from playing at the end of last season Gareth has now taken on the important administrative role of Player and Coach Development Of cer.
His new role sees him working with players and coaches and helping them to develop to their full potential.
Brecon RFC Youth XV Head Coach Thomas Jones outlines some of the changes to the youth team set up and sets seriously challenging targets for the remainder of the season...
BRECON RFC
YOUTH TEAM REVIEW
Prior to the start of the season a few changes in personnel were made. Huw Phillips agreed to continue as coach, Alan Taylor replaced Martin Keylock who took up the role of Senior backs coach and Simon Wood joined the Youth coaching team with Thomas Jones taking over from Murphy as Team manager.
After a very successful season last year and losing seven of last year’s squad into Senior rugby there was some concern about how this year’s team would compare and could they maintain the success of the previous year?
Wil Prosser was given the captaincy and he was delighted to have thirty plus players involved in preseason training which began in July. From that solid foundation squad numbers have continued to grow and now with 34 registered players the coaches have plenty of choice and cover in most positions.
I am delighted to report the following players, Josh Pritchard, Josh Hamilton, Finn Starkey, Finn Arnal, Fraser Thomas, Geraint Workman, Ben Kenchington, Huw Thomas, Henry
Morgan- Gervis and Kian Davies have joined from last years under 16s and have all had game time, some becoming rst team regulars. They have adjusted well to Youth rugby arriving with excellent skill sets and good tness levels, proving that the link between the mini/junior section and Brecon Youth is very strong. This highlights the importance of consistent and effective technical input from well quali ed coaches from a young age.
The season to date - played 13, won 9 and lost 4.
We disappointingly lost our second round WRU Plate match against Llandaff by the narrowest of margins, ve points to six. However, we have made progress in the Heart of Wales Cup after defeating Abercynon in round one. That win has opened up the prospect of playing away at our neighbours Gwernyfed in the next round. That local derby is likely to be a mouth-watering challenge. Gwernyfed head their league (BD) with 5 wins from 5 matches with Abercynon being their nearest rivals. The incentive to win that match and to make further progress could not be greater. We are also in the Breconshire Cup and await the rst round draw, as cup holders we will be the team to beat.
Coaches and the management team are all very positive about our results to date and feel we are developing into a very good side. Numbers at training and match days have been extremely positive, which hopefully this will translate into silverware next spring.
Many of our nal year youth boys have gone to University and are only available during the holiday period, however, we do have many players who are starting to show signs they will be ready for the challenges of senior rugby next season. Will Prosser, Nick Hughes, Ryan Price, Tudor Roderick, Dafydd Havard and Sam Maggs will hopefully become regulars in our senior teams in future seasons. It is important that our Youth team continues to be the perfect platform for our players’ development, enabling them to be ready to challenge for senior places as soon as they are eligible.
A large percentage of our squad are in their second year of youth rugby and are the nucleus of our team week in week out. All have gained from their experiences last year and are vital to the success of this year’s team. All continue to show an eagerness to develop and the improvement is evident on a weekly basis. Llewellyn Stephens, Rhys Evans, Rowan Starkey, Harry Preece, Stephen Hughes, Dan Stroud, Tom Whitcomb and Jonathan Davies are all contributing well in the forwards while Sam Hellard, Gareth Price, Carl Leaton, Oli Price, Lewis Watkins and Dafydd Edwards make up the nucleus of the backs, thriving in the youth arena. Finally I would also like to congratulate our boys on their behaviour both on and off the eld. To date it has been exemplary.
I would like to thank the total support we get from Sharon and her helpers post-match,
Ron for inputting data/stats and photos, Julian Edwards for his match reports, Gonzo for s orting out the match day kit, Tony Davies for arranging xtures, Andy Lewis and Malcolm Price for their generous sponsorship.
BRFC News
SPRING 2017