Page 105 - All Shapes & Zebras From Treorchy

You'll also have the nicknames that span everything else in between, quite often deriving from some geographical significance of the club's area: The Axemen (Rhigos), The Bombers (Barry), The Borderers (Whitland), The Brewers (Rhymney), The Cheesemen (Caerphilly, who else?), The Dairy Men (Llanharan), The Devils (Treherbert - for what else could it be for a club that had ‘Welcome to Hell' boldly stencilled on their grandstand?), The Old Firm (Mountain Ash), The Old Parish (Maesteg), The Pitmen (Penallta), The Rocks (St Peters), The Water Wheelers (Tondu) and The Village (both Abercwmboi and Rhydyfelin) - all to accompany the numerous ‘Athletics’, ‘Quins’, ‘Stars’, ‘Saints’, ‘Wanderers’ and ‘Uniteds’ across the land.
Then, somewhat boringly compared to the aforementioned names, there are the various colours - fairly generic and common but identifiable and revered by their own communities nonetheless: The Blues, The Whites, The Reds - and with slightly more inventiveness, a combination of colours like at my beloved Gwernyfed RFC, The Green, White and Blacks. There's also variations on that theme with The Black Army of Llantrisant and The Welsh All Blacks, the renowned moniker of Neath.
All nicknames, all synonymous with their communities spread throughout the land. All contributing to the patchwork quilt of rugby that covers the country, from cities to towns, from valleys to villages. All Welsh rugby clubs. All special, all different - and yet at their cores, all reassuringly familiar. Over the last few years, many of our clubs have folded and have been consigned to the record books. Hopefully, over the next few decades, those clubs that are still with us, will play on.
Long may these clubs, and amateur Welsh rugby, continue...
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