We completed the first block of Super Rygbi Cymru after our game on Thursday night in Swansea. The squad now has a well-earned and much needed break with our next fixture against Aberavon on the 23rd November at Pontypool Park. It’s a good time to reflect on Super Rygbi Cymru from our perspective and experience so far.
Head Coach, Tom Hancock says ‘I think the first block of SRC has been a good product for players, coaches and supporters alike so far. We’ve seen plenty of entertaining, competitive fixtures with lots of positive rugby. The coverage on S4C, along with the WRU & clubs social media output, has been improved and hopefully it continues to grow engagement with the rugby public across Wales. We’ve fully bought into one of the main concepts of the league with it being the breeding ground for young players from academies, youth teams, and schools & college rugby. It’s also hugely important that the young boys get to play alongside the experienced and hardened older heads to compete with and learn from. To see Ryan Jones, a local lad from Pontypool who is in the Dragons academy, run onto the field on Thursday at the same time as Scott Matthews, a leading player at this level for a decade, really illustrates this point. Both had a big impact on the game scoring a try apiece and Ryan will only benefit from being part of our environment and playing alongside the likes of Scotty, Mikey, Morgan and the rest of the lads.’
Looking forward to the remainder of the season Tom added ‘A home play-off spot is a target for us, and we're striving for that top 4 place. We’re aiming to compete for silverware and would love to see big games at Pontypool Park and Super Rygbi Cymru is definitely the league that allows that for us. We also want boys to make Wales U20 squads and make senior Dragons appearances – That’s a huge part of what success looks like for us.’
Behind the scenes an awful lot of unseen work goes on and Jamie Hallam, club secretary, said ‘we have very good dialogue with the Dragons at both rugby and boardroom level and we’re kept fully up to date with all of the boys individual programs, notwithstanding late changes can always happen from time to time with injuries. Our coaching staff are able to plan the same way they've done in past seasons and this is essential when it comes to them selecting our team.’
Hallam added ‘We meet regularly with the other clubs and the WRU and that partnership is working well too, a great example being the fixture list changes (which saw us play RGC home and away on consecutive weekends) that clubs asked for with the December derbies. Playing Ebbw Vale either side of Christmas will be great for both sets of supporters. The cup competition throughout January, February and March (along with any rearranged fixtures from earlier postponements) ensures that our playing program remains broadly unchanged from past seasons. We’re hopeful of competition developments in this period for future seasons which could be very exciting for all of us.’
Hallam goes on to say ‘Season ticket sales were up this year and overall Super Rygbi Cymru will deliver improved financials for us given the substantially increased funding each team receives from the WRU alongside the newly introduced salary cap. We’re still hugely indebted to Peter Jeffreys for his continued financial support however and looking at other ways of bringing income into the club is a key target for us. The break now is well timed for a few reasons and will allow us to showcase our fantastic sponsors and volunteers so watch this space.’
