New Faces

Those who were at training on Wednesday have now met the new assistant coach for the U18s. Next season will see major changes with the retirement of the manager and head coach of the U18s plus new management/coaching staff for the U15s. The transition should run smoothly as the new manager is attending training and the remaining 2 regional matches so he can see how things run.

Postponement

Sadly today's game was cancelled due to pitch conditions down in Swansea, though unfortunately we were not told until after we'd all got up really early (5am myself) and travelled over halfway there!
On a more positive note I have met up with the new manager who will be taking over my role next season and he seems really keen so hopefully that will inspire the girls to put in more effort.

Sunday

Back to serious rugby now - the u18 game v Ospreys will take place at St Helen's RFC, Swansea on Sunday.

Back to business

Back to normal training tonight.
Next game: Sunday 30 January (away) v Ospreys

Game v Scarlets

Sunday's game at Llangefni has been cancelled due to the weather.

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Rain, rain, go away........

Tomorrow's matches v Blues at Caernarfon RFC have now been postponed due to waterlogged pitches. These will be rescheduled at a later date.

Sunday's match

Meet at Caernarfon RFC 12.30 on Sunday for the match v the Blues.
Captain for this match: Kaya Harding
Vice Captain: Eloise Dorey

Training

Training 6pm tomorrow at Llandudno RFC.

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Training tomorrow

Nice treat tomorrow girls - indoor training. No nasty weather to contend with.

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Dates

With the postponement of Sunday's fixture, dates for regionals are as follows-
Sunday 31 October at Caernarfon RFC
Sunday 28 November at Llangefni RFC
Sunday 5 December - away - venue to be confirmed.
No excuses - if you have a Sunday job, arrange your time off NOW.

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Postponed

Sundays fixture v the Ospreys has been postponed due to the lack of players available. This is very disappointing after all the hard work the coaches and manager have put in. The fixture dates have been known since the start of the season so there is no excuse for players making themselves unavailable. This is annoying for those committed players who attend regular training and are ready to play.

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RGC 1404 v Dragons

RGC 1404 U18’s travelled to Machen RFC in Caerphilly for their first Regional fixture of the season, against the Dragons.
It was a disappointing start to the season for the management and the girls who turned out that 5 players expected to be there had withdrawn at the last minute.
Elin Royle captained the 15 girls who took to the field. Elin, and Kumari Tilakawardane, who is unable to play at present through injury but was present as part of the coaching team, are the two most senior players of the regional squad.

The long travel and the disorganisation resulting from the absence of key players might have led to the first minute try scored by the Dragons. The ball was won at the kick off and passed quickly down the line for Dragons to score in the corner.

The RGC girls however rallied and slowly began to get into their rhythm. The scrums felt the pressure of the heavier Dragons. The absence of key players hurt the RGC forwards who in their recent outings had held their own up front. However, Becca Broadway, in her first game as a Regional player, who was thrown in at the deep end after only one training session, proved that she was more than equal to the task, holding her own despite the scrum going back. Kaya Harding showed that she is blossoming into a fine 9, managing to extricate the ball quickly and efficiently from the withdrawing scrum and passing it to safety. Gwen Harries, playing at 10, time and again took the ball past the gain line. She sidestepped time and again, leaving the melee of Dragons in front of her clutching the wind blowing across the Machen RFC grounds. Eventually Gwen found herself clear of the fire of the Dragons and roared in under the post to score the first try for RGC 1404 this season.

A quick penalty taken by Rhian Owen in the RGC 22 saw her run past the defence taking play to the opposition 22. The pressure created resulted in a penalty, which was taken by Iona Evans.

The forwards too started finding their rhythm. Cara Hope, the forward’s captain, led by example, carrying the ball well into the opposition, breaking past the gain line. She was ably assisted by Eloise Dorey, playing her first season in competitive age level rugby, who was equal to the task of taking the ball past the feisty Dragons.
However, these forays did not result in the cohesive patterns of play that the RGC girls are capable of. This was in equal measure due to the dour defence of the Dragons as much as to the lack of organisation within the RGC ranks. The RGC backs did not find any rhythms throughout the game. However, superb individual efforts from Gwen Harries, Kaya Harding and Rhian Owen kept the hopes alive. The girls did not organise themselves well in defence also. The Dragons used this to advantage sending the ball out wide to lead by 18 points to 10 at the half time.

The RGC girls restarted with better mentality and played much better in the second half. The forwards carried the ball better, creating problems for the Dragons. Again, Cara Hope and Eloise Dorey were in the thick carrying the ball forward and setting the platform for attack. They had the support of Megan Parry and Non Owen amongst the forwards but still did not dominate the phases, allowing themselves to be stopped by the Dragons. The backs failed to find any cohesion. It was left to the individual efforts of Cara, Eloise, Gwen, Kaya and Eurgain Llwyd to take the ball forward. The continued enthusiastic onslaught by the RGC girls did bring them two more tries, another for Gwen and one for Sara Williams, also playing in her first regional match and showing that she is a player who has put a marker down to senior players that she is here to stay. One of the tries was converted by Cara Hope.

The RGC girls did front up in defence better in the second half. However this was more individual effort rather than a well organised defence. Alaw Hughes and Iona Evans tackled with aggression to stop the experienced Dragons centres from making headway and passing the ball down the line. The diminutive Eurgain at full back was equal to the task of both the long ball and the foraging heavier Dragons backs and played an excellent game in defence clearing the ball to safety may times. The backs were fortified in the second half as Captain Elin Royle reverted to her normal place in the back three having served her time as flank forward, making up for the missing players. She changed as the Dragons had to lose a forward due to injury and RGC dropped a forward to match numbers. She showed that she did belong in the backs and the back three, as she was deft under the high ball, fleet of foot and agile in attack taking the ball to safety.

The defence was better organised towards the end of the game and the RGC girls withstood a final onslaught from the Dragons who were unable to breach the defence in the last passage of play. The heroism in defence was highlighted by a try saving tackle from Eloise Dorey at the corner flag, comprehensively bundling a Dragon, ball and all, way past the touchline. She was rewarded for her efforts by a punch on her face and a Dragon player sent off with a red card.

The RGC girls tried to push the advantage to score and overturn the score but the effort was too little too late.

The final score Dragons - 27 RGC1404 – 20

The squad for this match:

Becca Broadway
Eloise Dorey
Megan Parry
Catrin Roberts
Non Owen
Elin Royle (captain)
Cara Hope
Kaya Harding
Gwen Harries
Rhian Owen
Iona Evans
Alaw Hughes
Rachael Edwards
Eurgain Llwyd
Sara Williams


Head Coach: Louis Tilakawardane
Coach: Tom Rogers
Coach: Kumari Tilakawardane
Manager: Ann Tilakawardane


RGC1404 Player of the Match had many contenders. Gwen with her running play and two tries, Cara with her fabulous ball carrying, Eloise and Becca who played beyond their maturity. However the Player of the Match is Kaya Harding, who played with tremendous skill and confidence in defence and attack.

RGC1404 v Dragons

RGC u18s 20 - Dragons 27
Match report later.

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Training

Important to be at training tonight as it's the last chance before the first regional. Also the new kit should be there tonight! The new polo shirts and hoodies have arrived for those who ordered on time.

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New season

If you want a new polo shirt and hoody with the new logo I need £25 this week.

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Times passing

The first dates for Regional games are fast approaching and we need to make a decision soon whether we will have a squad or not.

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Do we continue?

Again there were only 6 girls at training last Wednesday. There is only a short time left before the matches start and we will simply not be ready to compete against teams who have trained together frequently. The coaches now have to make the hard decision about whether we withdraw the RGC1404 U18 girls from the regional competition and disband the team.
We cannot go on this way. For a start why should the coaches and manager give up their free time (and spend petrol money) to get to training to find that most of the team do not turn up nor have the courtesy to inform us they will not be there. We have done our best and given it our all but now it's up to the girls.

Sunday July 25

The first of the summer development days took place yesterday at Ruthin RFC. There was a fairly good turnout from both U15 & U18 girls who were put through their paces by the RGC regional girls coaches.
Following the skills session the Regional presentations took place. The awards were presented by Nicola Smith, in her last visit to North Wales as Women's Community Rugby Manager - Nicola is taking up a different position within the WRU.
The first presentation was the club award - for the 4th year running this was presented to Colwyn Bay RFC's Mermaids. The award was accepted on behalf of the club by Bethan Lloyd Jones, who is leaving the squad to take up a place at university and will be sorely missed by both the Regional and club teams.
The Regional presentations then took place.
First of all the girls who had played Regional rugby last season stepped up to accept individual medals in recognition of their committment to the Regional team.
Player of the year for the RGC1404 U15 girls was Megan Parry
Player of the year for the RGC1404 U18 girls was Iona Evans
A surprise award was then made to Nicola Smith on behalf of the girls of North Wales to thank her for her support for the region.

Presentations

The regional presentations will now take place at Ruthin on 25 July - you will all receive an invitation from the WRU.

First training

The first session went well - apart from the weather - rain, thunder & lightning! 7 girls turned up - could have been more but not bad for the first session.