NORTH RUGBY

The newsletter of the North Wales Rugby Council - Issue 8, April 11th, 2011 North Wales youngster included in Wales Under-18 squad

NORTH Wales youngster Alex Schwarz is gearing himself up to for the France-based tournament with the international match take on the cream of European youth rugby over the coming against Scotland U18 yesterday. month after earning selection to the Wales under-18s. Despite some disappointment at their first performance against Schwarz, who is a product of RGC 1404’s youth set-up and a France, Rees is now satisfied with the side’s progression. pupil Abbeygate school in Chester , was named in Gruff Rees’ 26-man U18s squad for the FIRA-AER European tournament in “We’ve had a good amount of time with the group which we France and was on the bench when Wales took on Scotland at narrowed down from an initial squad of over 50 to 32,” said the St Helens yesterday (Sunday). head coach. “Last month was valuable for us with the capped games against France and Italy giving us a good gauge on the Wales qualified for the FIRA-AER tournament’s Elite Group by team’s development collectively and individually. beating Italy 26-12 last month and learned this week that they will face England in their semi-final which takes place in Auch on “The friendly against Japan High Schools was also very Sunday, April 17 (5pm). beneficial because it gave us the chance to give game time to certain players so that everyone could stake a claim for a place The other semi-final will be between France and Ireland and in the FIRA-AER squad. Some players put their hands up in that depending on results in the first round, Wales will play either game and have pushed their way into the 26-man group. France or Ireland on Saturday, April 23 in Tarbes. “We were disappointed with the performance against France, but After initially losing 34-17 to France in their first qualification improved against Italy, in attack and defence. We’d like to game, Wales followed up their win over Italy with a 39-27 victory continue in that vein against Scotland this weekend, making over Japanese High Schools. They completed their preparation further improvements ahead of the England game a week later. We would certainly hope for a much more polished and impressive home performance this weekend than a month ago WELSH RUGBY when we played France. UNION ANNOUNCE “In terms of the team selection against Scotland, some players have been given extra game time, while we have kept the spine DATES FOR of the side that beat Italy as they played a smarter game than we REFEREE COURSES showed against France. Others took their opportunities against Japan and have gained a spot.”

Level 1 Referee Courses Looking further ahead, Rees is eagerly anticipating the FIRA- Summer 2011 AER tournament. He added: “Our emphasis this week is on preparing for Scotland, and continuing to lift our level of play and nd Sat 2 July RFC intensity, but the FIRA tournament will be a great experience for rd Sun 3 July Taibach RFC the players in learning about the expectations of international th Sat 9 July Llanidloes RFC rugby both on and off the pitch, and understanding how they th Sun 24 July Colwyn Bay RFC cope with those pressures. Sat 30 th July Cross Keys RFC st Sun 31 July Quins RFC “We haven’t set any targets in terms of results, but we want to see improvements in performance along with how we prepare Course Duration 0930 - 1600 and review games, learning all the time.” Registration 0900 - 0930 Further details and application forms can be obtained from David R Davies 02920822420 [email protected] Marcia Harding 02920822419 [email protected] WALES U18 SQUAD – Backs: Rhodri Williams, Alex Schwarz, Closing Date is 1 week prior to course date Josh Davies, Sam Davies, Rhys Patchell, Thomas Pascoe, Ryan E Evans, Jordan Williams, Ryan J Evans, Jake Randall, Owen Course costs £20, non refundable, includes buffet lunch. Jenkins, Cory Allen. Forwards: Thomas Davies, Daniel Suter, To book a place, completed application form and fee must Bradley Thyer, Evan Yardley, , Jack Dando, Rhodri be received in the Referees Department. Hughes, Jack Jones, Daniel Thomas, , Ieuan Jones, Lewis Young, Sion Bennett, Calum Lewis. WRU DIVISION ONE NORTH WRU DIVISION TWO NORTH Team PWDLBPP Team PWDLBPP CAERNARFON 13 12 0 1 9 57 BALA 17 14 0 3 11 67 BETHESDA 16 11 0 5 5 49 DOLGELLAU 17 14 0 3 10 66 NANT CONWY 13 9 0 4 12 48 LLANIDLOES 16 12 0 4 10 58 MOLD 14 9 0 5 7 43 RHYL 17 11 1 5 10 56 LLANDUDNO 15 8 0 7 9 41 COBRA 16 11 0 5 8 52 RUTHIN 15 7 0 8 9 37 DENBIGH 16 9 0 7 9 45 BRO FFESTINIOG 14 6 0 8 5 29 ABERGELE 17 9 1 7 6 44 LLANGEFNI 16 6 0 10 4 28 NEWTOWN 16 8 0 8 5 37 COLWYN BAY 14 2 0 12 8 16 MACHYNLLETH 16 5 0 11 5 21 PWLLHELI 14 2 0 12 6 14 WREXHAM 16 3 0 13 6 18 BANGOR 17 0 0 17 2 2 Games remaining Nant Conwy v Llangefni WELSHPOOL 15 1 0 14 0 0 16th April Friday, 6th May Mold v Ruthin 13th April Dolgellau v COBRA Pwllheli v Mold Wrexham v Welshpool Llanidloes v Machynlleth Bethesda v Llangefni 7th May Rhyl v Bala Bro Ffest v Colwyn Bay 16th April Welshpool v Bangor Caernarfon v Nant Conwy Colwyn Bay v Caernarfon Bro Ffest v Pwllheli Bala v Denbigh Bangor v Dolgellau Wednesday 27th April 23rd April COBRA v Rhyl Newtown v Llanidloes Caernarfon v Mold To arrange Nant Conwy v Bro Ffestiniog Machynlleth v Abergele Colwyn Bay v Nant Conwy Newtown v Welshpool 30th April Bethesda v Pwllheli Ruthin v Llandudno Llandudno v Caernarfon Wrexham v Llanidloes Bala v Bangor Nant Conwy v Pwllheli Denbigh v Machynlleth 30th April 23rd April Rhyl v Newtown Mold v Colwyn Bay Abergele v Newtown Abergele v Llanidloes Bro Ffest v Llandudno Denbigh v Wrexham Ruthin v Caernarfon 7th May Welshpool v Bala Newtown v Denbigh St Johns and WRU To arrange team up to offer first Dolgellau v Machynlleth Welshpool v Wrexham aid courses for clubs Llanidloes v Denbigh REGIONAL AGE Rhyl v COBRA The Welsh and St John Wales have Machynlleth v Llanidloes joined forces to teach lifesaving first aid skills to GRADE FIXTURES Wrexham v Denbigh rugby volunteers across Wales. ANNOUNCED FOR Dolgellau v Bala Thousands of club volunteers help run the game in NEXT SEASON Machynlleth v Wrexham Wales, common examples of which are coaches, Dolgellau v Rhyl club secretaries, match officials and groundsmen. Home game against the Abergele v COBRA Clubs are rewarded through WRU grant funding for to kick-off next Llanidloes v Bangor having qualified first aiders on their books to assist season's round of regional Newtown v Machynlleth with matchday operations. age grade fixtures Denbigh v Welshpool Abergele v Welshpool And now, the WRU, through its' new relationship 28/8- Home v Scarlets COBRA v Bangor with St John Cymru Wales, is able to provide first 11/9- Away v aid courses around Wales to enable more club 25/9- Home v FIXTURES volunteers to receive expert training in this field. 23/10- Away v Blues Please note that some of the 6/11- Away v Scarlets fixtures in this newsletter may To book a St John Wales/WRU first aid course visit 20/11- Home v Dragons www.sjaw.co.uk/WelshRugbyUnion or call 0845 change - please check on 27/11- Away v Ospreys 678 5646 18/12- Home v Blues www.nwru.co.uk North Wales Under-18 squad Three North Wales boys picked announced for summer training camp in Wales Under-16 squad 1 Joe Simpson Bangor 2 Oli Suter Mold Congratulations to Callum 3 Ben Baker Bangor Mitchell (Colwyn Bay 4 Rhodri Evans Caernarfon RFC), pictured left and 5 Callum Mitchell Colwyn Bay Luke and Rhys Williams of 6 James Quiney Wrexham Mold RFC on their 7 Joe Jones Mold inclusion in the Wales 8 Gareth Pym Exiles Under-16 squad 9 Harry Collins Denbigh 10 Mareddyd Francis Llandudno 11 Jamie Kelly Llandudno 12 Jack Morris Wrexham 13 Max Davies Mold Coaching Course dates 14 James Grundy Mold 15 Aaron Gwyn Caernarfon for your Diary 16 Gerald Hitchens Mold 17 Dafydd Jones Denbigh Level 1 - Coleg Llandrillo 7 May 2011, 8 May 18 Scott Critchley Exiles 2011, 15 May 2011. £120. Closing Date 7 April - 19 Meilir Parry Bangor please contact WRU urgently if you are interested 20 Alex Pope Mold 21 Toby Twigg Mold Level 2 - Coleg Llandrillo 11th, 12th June 2011, 22 Afon Bagshaw Flint 23 Joe Hughes Mold 9th, 10th July 2011. £200. Closing Date 12th May 24 Sam Stemalzek Exiles 25 Lewis Barker Mold Level 1 - Dolgellau 8th, 9th, 16th October 2011. 26 Joseff Edwards Bala £120. Closing Date 8th September 27 Harri Evans Llandudno 28 Jason Blackmore Rhyl Application forms available on Welsh Rugby 29 Harri Edwards Llangefni Union website at www.wru.co.uk 30 Emyr Gwynedd Mold 31 Mike Jones Ruthin 32 Russell Jones Wrexham CLWB RYGBI DINBYCH (DENBIGH 33 Rhys Williams Mold 34 Morgan Harries Colwyn Bay RFC) VETERANS 10s TOURNAMENT 35 Oli Sharples Exiles Saturday, 14th May, 2011 36 Lewis Stockton Colwyn Bay Open to teams with players over 35 years old 37 Dion Jones Nant Conwy Further details from Jon Casemore by email 38 Osian Jones Pwllheli to [email protected] or 0783756023 39 Rhodri Mayor COBRA 40 James Strong Mold 41 Jack Foster Colwyn Bay Wrexham Youth pictured below 42 Teddy Brittain Llanidloes RUGBY SHORTS

North Wales Cup Final Saturday, 14th May at Colwyn Bay RFC Bro Ffestiniog v Nant Conwy 3pm

Caernarfon edge closer to league title after win at North Wales Plate Final Mold - Rhos score 101 in Division 3 Saturday, 14th May at Colwyn Bay RFC Mold v Llandudno 1pm kick-off Division One Llandudno 36 v Bro Ffestiniog 43; Llangefni 17 v Pwllheli 12; Mold 14 v Caernarfon 38; Clwyd Cup Final Nant Conwy 58 v Colwyn Bay 5; Ruthin 11 v Bethesda 20 Ruthin 2nds v Colwyn Bay 2nds There is little change at the top of Division One North after league leaders Caernarfon 28th May at Denbigh RFC picked up maximum points with their 14-38 win at Mold. Wing Dylan Gwyn Owen crossed (to be confirmed) for two of his side's five tries, the others coming from centre Dafudd Roberts, scrum half Tristan Gwilym and centre Gareth Thirsk. Outside half Kelfyn Morris kicked five Clwyd Plate Final conversions and a penalty. Llandudno 2nds v Abergele 2nds or Nant Conwy moved in to third place with an 11-try crushing of visitors Colwyn Bay, full Wrexham 2nds back Grant Jones crossing for three tries. Second-placed Bethesda won 20-13 at Ruthin 28th May at Denbigh RFC while Pwllheli picked up a losign point in their fight against relegation, going down 17-12 at (to be confirmed) Llangefni. Wing Carwyn Milburn kicked four penalties for the home side.

Division Two North Mid Wales Cup and Shield Final Abergele 35 v Wrexham 5; Bala 22 v COBRA 7; Denbigh 21 v Llanidloes 25; Dolgellau 53 Sunday, 2nd May at Llanidloes RFC v Newtown 14; Rhyl 63 v Bangor 0; Welshpool 10 v Machynlleth 53 Aberystwyth 2nds v Newtown 2nds Welshpool 2nds v UWA 2nds Division 3 North Harlech v Flint; Llangollen v Benllech; Rhos 101 v Holyhead 0; Shotton v Menai Bridge

Youth Division One - Denbigh v Mold; COBRA 52 v Colwyn Bay 0 Youth Division Two - Nant Conwy 39 v Llanidloes 16; Bangor 22 v Newtown 5 Youth Cup - Bala v Llangefni; Welshpool 0 v Wrexham 50 GWYNEDD Cambrian Training Mid Wales League - Aberystwyth Athletic 36 v Newtown 2nds 5 Aberystwyth Athletic lifted the Mid Wales title with a 36-5 victory over Newtown 2nds. CUP UPDATE Flanker Stefan Nutting got the first touchdown followed by another try by fellow flanker Lee Evans. Quarter Finals WRU Division Two West - Builth Wells 38 v Newcastle Emlyn 21; Pontyberem 25 v Saturday, 16th April Aberystwyth 11 Menai Bridge v Benllech WRU Division 6 Central - Glyncoch 81 v Llandrindod Wells 5 Caernarfon 2nds v Porthmadog Pwllheli 2nds v Bethesda 2nds Dolgellau 2nds/Harlech v Nant Conwy 2nds

Semi Finals Saturday, 23rd April Pwllheli 2nds/Bethesda 2nds v Caernarfon 2nds/Porthmadog Dolgellau 2nds/Harlech or Nant Conwy 2nds v Menai Bridge or Benllech

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