Monday, October 30, 2006

U11's: Uplands Home 29.10.06

Date: 29/10/06
Score: South Gower 10, Uplands 15
Tries (Scored By): Jack Rosser, Chay Smith

S.G.R.F.C. Man of the Match (And Why): Jack Rosser for safe hands at outside half, dictating the back line moves and hitting the gaps with perfection for a personal well earned try.

Game Analysis:
The South Gower V Uplands games are always one of the best fixtures of the season and both teams put on an exceptional display of junior rugby. Both teams fielded a 15-man team playing full pitch in readiness for the under 12 season next year. The forwards and backs of both teams worked well going through the phases displaying end-to-end rugby.
Uplands applied lots of pressure in the opening ten minutes delivering two early well-organised tries. Gower increased the intensity up front to regain possession and make ground back into the oppositions half. Gower outside half Jack Rosser broke through the back line for a darting run to the try line that lifted the All Black spirit. Shortly after, the Gower forwards retained the ball on the restart allowing quick ball out to the backs within their own half, eventually finding the hands of Chay Smith who dummied, weaved and side stepped around the pitch using great angles for a well deserved try. At 10 all, the game was on, with all to play for.
The second half saw both sides go to the wall; disallowed tries, intense tackling with some great rugby shining through. However, Uplands forwards eventually gained the upper hand for another 5 pointer. South Gower retaliated, applying pressure all over the Uplands try line but were penalised just short of the try line for holding on in the ruck, allowing Uplands to clear the ball in to touch, concluding the game, claiming an away win. All the players were a credit to themselves for the spirit in which they played, so until the next time……….game on!

Under 8's Versus Swansea Uplands @ Home - 29.10.06

The Youngsters
South Gower - 1
Swansea Uplands - 3

The Elders
South Gower - 6
Swansea Uplands - 1

Again this week, we had a good split of 7 & 8 year olds and 5 & 6 year olds. The Uplands had the same so we had 2 games. Youngsters against Youngsters and Elders against Elders.
Thomas Hopkins captained the Youngsters and led his team very well. The whole team did well with Ben Westerholm scoring the only try for South Gower. Ben received the ball from the tap deep in his own half, spotted a gap and raced clear of the opposition. He sprinted 3/4 of the pitch to score in the corner. Unfortunately for South Gower, Swansea Uplands scored 3 unanswered tries, although we came close a few times, which proved enough to win the game. Overall, a good performance from the Youngsters and a good game to watch.


Morgan Israel in possession for the Youngsters with Tommasso Morgan in support

The Elders were captained by Cai Adams. This was a very impressive performance from the elders as they piled on the pressure from the off. The uplands started with possession but a turnover was gained very soon after.

The Roadrunner, Ben Westerholm races clear for his first try of the Elders game.

From the tap, Ben Westerholm, (above) still basking in the glory from his try for the Youngsters, thought he would do exactly the same again, which he did ! From his own half, Ben spotted a gap, engaged his nitro burners and flew to score a great try. The next try was scored by Cameron Barker. The Uplands had possession of the ball when they spilled it. Quick thinking by Tom Jenkins saw him dive on the ball and pop it up to Cameron who burst through 3 tag-kles to score.
The second half started where we left off and from the tap, the ball was passed to Max Collis. Max looked one way and went the other through a gap and a good 20 metre run to score our 3rd try.

Ethan "Shane" Smith dummies everyone (including spectators) to race clear for a great try for the Elders

The 4th try was excellent. I instructed for the runner to go open. When the ball was passed, Cameron passed to Ethan Smith (above) down the blind and Ethan left them for dead (see picture above) to score a great try. Apart from Cameron and Ethan, all we could do was stand and watch in amazement because they dummied us as well.
Ben Westerholm scored the 5th with a great show of pace. If you have ever seen Wile E. Coyote, Ben is the Roadrunner. He said beep beep and flew past the opposition for his second score of the game. The best was saved for last. In training we have been working on passing and taking the ball at pace and that is exactly what happened for the last try. Again The Roadrunner (Ben) found a gap but was closed down by 3 players and tagged when he popped the ball to Ethan coming at speed down the touchline. Ethan, applied a cracking step to ghost inside the 3 players to score a fantastic try. This was by far the best performance of the season and it was nice to see that the children are learning from the training and making it happen on the pitch on a Sunday. A big well done to all the under 8's.

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Quads and Climbing



Drive on Under 12s










Good clean fun !

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

U:11's Gorseinon & Llanelli New Dock (Round Robin) Home 15.10.06

Date: 15.10.06
Score:
1. South Gower 24, Gorseinon 38
2. Gorseinon 0, Llanelli New Dock 64
3. South Gower 36, Llanelli New Dock 35
Tries (Scored By):
Game 1. – Alex Ashburner, Sam Jones, Jamie Thomas and Jack Rosser
Game 3. – Chay Smith [2], Alex Ashburner, Jamie Thomas and Sam Pritchard [2]


S.G.R.F.C. Man of the Match’s (And Why): Elliot Owen for his non-stop in your face aggression that kept the forwards driving on.

Game Analysis:
Game 1. South Gower had a fair game with some first choice players missing that saw the likes Jonno and Jack Rosser step up to the mark. 5 tries scored in the first half (2 Gower and 3 Gorseinon) made for a thrilling game. The second half having the same outcome of tries (2 Gower, 3 Gorseinon). None the less, well balanced by the South Gower squad mixing the rough stuff up front with some flair in the backs that apart from some bad decisions made when under pressure could have easily led the game into the All Blacks favour.

Game 2. Gorseinon V Llanelli New Dock – Llanelli completely dominated scoring a brace of tries that prevented Gorseinon of any possession.

Game 3. South Gower V Llanelli, South Gower made some positional changes and brought on some fresh legs via Chay Smith & Sam Pritchard which seamed to boost the teams confidence further which allowed South Gower to post 4 straight un-answered tries. Again a great mix of forwards winning the ball and the backs running it mixing up the game plan. Llanelli did manage to claw back two tries prior to half time followed by a brace of 3 unanswered tries of their own in the second half. South Gower’s temporary lack of concentration finally halted and in return delivered two tries, which put South Gower back into the lead by 1 point and the win.

The South Gower 11’s are already building ready for next season, growing the confidence for the 15-man game at all positions. Well Done boys, a great performance from all of you.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Music Quiz

Many thanks to all who attended and supported the club on Saturday, we raised over £400 for the club !

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Under 8's V New Dock Stars @ Home 15/10/06

(The Youngsters)
South Gower - 0
New Dock Stars - 5

(The Elders)
South Gower - 0
New Dock Stars - 6

We had 23 players today ranging from 5 years old to 8 years old. We split them in to 2 teams (Youngsters & Elders) and had 2 matches.

Sam Court has a run supported by Sam Stewart

Morgan Israel captained the youngsters in a good game, but unfortunately we lost to a very good New Dock Stars team. Everybody played and everybody did well.


Tommasso Morgan in full flow supported by Laura Cheley and Sam Stewart


The Elders were captained by George Heard. As much as we tried, nothing seemed to come off for us today. Little mistakes combined with some very talented players for The Stars ensured they won the game. I can't really say more than that because we didn't score any tries but I am proud of the team for the way they kept going and never gave up. Good effort from the team and lets look forward to next weeks game. Don't forget training at the club on Wednesday night's 6.30pm - 7.30pm.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Sunday 15th October

Under 12s game v Bonymaen is now off

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

U11's: Penlan Away 08.10.06

Date: 8th October 2006
Score: South Gower 10, Penlan 5
Tries (Scored By): Max Adams, Jack Hooper-Lewis

S.G.R.F.C. Man of the Match (And Why):
Sam Jones for committed tackling that kept the pressure on Penlan in the contact area.

Game Analysis:
A tough first half that saw South Gower 11’s under a lot of pressure within their own half. None the less a tight defensive game kept the score line at nil – nil through to half time. The second half continued in the same vain where Penlan made a clean break securing the first score. With all to play for, the Gower All Blacks dug in up front, making good ground that allowed Gower’s Max Adams to break through the pack using his power to cross the white line. Gower continued making a number of attacks with some good ball from Jake Osbourne and good running lines from Kieran Shreves. Yet again however, Penlan managed to push Gower back into their 22. Jack Hooper-Lewis saw an opportunity for a clearance kick, with Kieran Shreves on the mark for the chase. Penlan spilled the ball under pressure allowing Jack Hooper-Lewis to scoop up crossing the line with ease for a great start and finish individual try. The game drawing to a close with a two tries to one win keeping the winning trend for South Gower. Well done boys.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Fixtures Sunday 15th October

Under 8s,9s,10s and 11s are at home to Llanelli new Dock stars and also Gorseinon 10s and 11s are also at home.

Under 12s are away to Bonymaen - Meet 10am at Murton
Under 13s - game to be arranged
Under 14s home to Waun

Sunday, October 08, 2006

U8's: Penlan Away 07.10.2006

Penlan - 5
South Gower - 4

The first match report of the season and unfortunately, our first loss. Up until today, our Under 8's had won every game, defeating Skewen (away), Pontardulais (home) and Glyneath (away).
We were slightly hampered today as the pitch was narrow and we have some speed merchants in our team who would beat a cheetah over 100 yards !

We played 4 quarters and rotated the team so that all 18 players had a run out. We lost the first quarter 2 - 0 but came out fighting in the second and won 2 -1 with Cameron Barker and Tom Mogridge diving over for well taken tries. Cameron took advantage of a dropped ball by penlan and went over and Tom rounded off a good team move with a well taken try.

Tom Jenkins in full flow supported by Bullet Head Bates, Ethan "Shane" Smith and The Kneathmeister Fergus.

We lost our concentration in the third quarter and conceded 2 tries without reply, but again, came out for the last quarter with the Gower fighting spirit and won the quarter 2 - 0 with tries coming from Ethan Smith and Morgan Israel.

Our very own Shane Williams, Ethan, turned swivelled and dodged several players before sprinting over for a fine try. Morgan's try came from a turnover ball. The ball was spilled onto the floor and our players dived in for a proper ruck, out came the ball, it was passed to Cameron who then passed it backwards THROUGH his legs to Morgan who dived over. We came back fighting but we just couldn't get one more to draw the game. Overall an excellent performance from everybody with good team spirit and we now look forward to Gorseinon at home next week.

South Gower Under 8's Versus Penlan

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Dates for your diary

14th October- Parents Music Quiz - 19:30 at the club - Please email nigel.lomas2@btopenworld.com to let us know if you are coming.

28th October - Quad biking and adventure day at Kenfig hill - Please put your name on the list on the board in the club house, we need 100 people (adults included) to make this a worthwhile trip and keep the cost at half the price !

30th November - Last date to transfer from another club and register (if a new player you are not insurred until registered)

Subs are now due £30 per player or £50 for a family please give the form with contact details and payment to your coach.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Come on Gower!

Hi everyone. Eventually after some help from The Ash, I am on line. Thanks Ash.
Jack T is a little concerned that the rules may be a little bit alien to the opposition!!The Club seems to be going from strength to strength across the age groups. Concerns for the numbers in some are a little disappointing and might be helped by encouraging the current players to use the Ospreys Discount Tickets and Free Bus to home games to bring in friends or class mates who have not yet found the game.

PHOTO: Jack T is a little concerned that the rules may be a little bit alien to the opposition!!

What about getting into the schools and speaking with the Teachers / Alwyn Harris (the new community development officer) advertising this opportunity. Perhaps we should advertise in the New Bishopston Gym, or see if we could get a coach involved with the school team. I believe that it is Mr. Philips is the contact.

The season seems to have been going for ever and it is only October. The 13,s have had the most difficult of starts being away at Bonymaen to kick the season off. We then entertained Vardre at home, Waunarlywdd away, Vardre at home ageain and Waunarlywdd away again last Saturday.

Pingu, South Gower's most loyal supporter is looking forward to our next match, away at Abercrave in the Ospreys Cup. The match will be very difficult but at least there are plenty of Sheep to stare at!!

PHOTO: Pingu, South Gower's most loyal supporter is looking forward to our next match, away at Abercrave in the Ospreys Cup. The match will be very difficult but at least there are plenty of Sheep to stare at!!
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Results To Date.
Bonymaen(A) Lost 48-0 approx
Vardre(H) Lost 36-19
Waunarlywdd(A) Lost 48-19 approx
Vardre(H) Lost 36-28
Waunarlywdd(A) Won 26-14

We have been very lucky to have been bolstered by the addition of a number of boys from Dunvant Club, and they will help us develop for the future. The team spirit seems to be returning and more of the self belief seen at the end of last season, would do us the world of good.

Time to go. Any of my boys see this "BELIEVE"!! And remember that the important thing is to improve from last week. That way you will eventually become the team and the player you want to be!

I couldn't leave without a picture of one of Gowers other great supporters in "her Playing Day".

Freya on the charge. The Lomas alias Pavatotti, Renee and many other referee costumes, attempts to keep up!!
PHOTO: Freya on the charge. The Lomas alias Pavatotti, Renee and many other referee costumes, attempts to keep up!!

COME on GOWER!!!!

Monday, October 02, 2006

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Blog?
A blog is a website which allows people to easily add their own thoughts and comments without having to learn about web publishing. The 2006/07 South Gower RFC website that you're looking at right now is built around a blog.

Who can post stuff onto the site?
At the moment, any paid-up member of South Gower RFC (player or parent) who wants to contribute to the site can. Just email info@MrFlag.com for access. Everyone is welcome - please get involved.

Erm... I can't work out what I have to do. Can you explain?
Yep. Go here.

What can we write and how often can we write it?
You can contribute as much or as little as you like, as often as you like. You can write about anything you like as long as it's suitable for all age-groups... and connected to rugby or the club.

What about photos?
Yes you can post photos. You (and not the site) are responsible for any photographs you post.

Match Reports.
If you played in a match but don't see a report of it posted here on the website, it's because no-one has written one! Nag your coach or team manager, nominate someone else to write it, take it in turns, do it yourself. Parents, players, spectators... anyone can do it and someone different can do it every week. If you want you and your squad to get a mention, go get it sorted out.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

U11's: Glynneath Away 01.10.2006

Date: 1st October 2006
Score: South Gower 33, Glynneath 17
Conversions: Chay Smith [2], Jamie Thomas [2]
Tries (Scored By): Chay Smith [2], Sam Pritchard, Jamie Thomas & Kieran Shreves.

S.G.R.F.C. Man of the Match (And Why):
Sam Pritchard for running some great angle to get behind Glynneath’s defence followed by off loading that created a number of the games tries.

Game Analysis:
Glynneath turned on from the start putting South Gower under intense pressure within their 22. Valiant defending from South Gower wasn’t enough as Glynneath got the first try of the game. South Gower had to step up to the mark if they were going to stay in the game and did so well following the restart, with scrum half Jamie Thomas getting an equalising try.


Try for try in an evenly matched game Glynneath came back with another well-earned try. However, the Gower All Blacks confidence was clearly growing. Forwards Thomas Wright and Daniel Barker really made their mark in the driving mauls and Alex Ashburner making some hard earned yards carrying the ball up field, with the forwards battling supported by a number of great off loads which allowed centres Chay Smith and Sam Pritchard to cross the try line in succession before the half time whistle.

The second half saw more of the same, South Gower driving on leaving Glynneath scrambling for clean ball. A clearance kick that was read and charged down by Chay Smith secured another 5 pointer for Gower. A good breaking run from Glynneath added a third try to Glynneath’s score line but only to be counter attacked by a blazing run from Gower's Kieran Shreves that ended an entertaining game with well structured phase play by the South Gower 11’s.