News

The club would like to wish our players, coaches, officials, sponsors and supporters a happy New Year and we hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas. January sees us arrive at the half way stage of 2023/24 season with the 1st team currently sitting on top of Admiral League 3 West B, with a playing record of 8 wins and 1 loss from 9 games played. The squad have reacted well to our new coaching / management group of Rob Walters (backs), Dorian Jones (forwards) and Rob Owen (manager). The only blot on the league copybook was a 21-16 defeat at Cefneithin on 18 November. It's an extremely tight and competitive league with Betws, Cefneithin and New Dock Stars all fancying their chances of securing the Championship come the end of the season. Betws are in superb form having not lost a game so far, they are the only team that the Magpies have yet to face as our away league game was called off at kick off by the referee due to an unplayable pitch following heavy rain. I'm sure these games as well as the home fixture against Cefneithin and this Saturday's home game against New Dock Stars will go some way to deciding the destination of the league championship trophy. The Division 3 Cup saw a great win against Tonmawr before a titanic battle against Colwyn Bay which saw the boys lose 23-21 to a last minute penalty after being 0-20 down after 20 minutes. A number of new signings have strengthened the first team squad, including wing/centre Sion Yip, centre Alun Howells, wing Matt Jenkins, flanker Lee Colling, prop Kieran Thomas, flanker Rhys Jones,  prop Emyr Evans and scrum half Cai Thomas.

It has been pleasing that we've been able to get a second XV on the field pre-Christmas under the management of Peter Walters and James Stephens. Whilst we've only managed one game, a 7-5 defeat against Carmarthen Druids on 9 December, we've had a further three scheduled friendly games cancelled due to the aborant weather we've had the last few months. The aim in the new year is to play more second team friendlies and hopefully enter the Llanelli and District Cup competition.

The Piod Pinc have had a successful first half of the season under the coaching / management group of Zack Bird, Dominic Hammet, Andrea Walter and Debbie Roderick. Again, the prolonged wet weather has been extremely frustrating and has led to a number of postponed fixtures. A 12-5 win over Senghennydd on 26 November saw the girls through to the third round of the WRU National Bowl but a number of cancelled league fixtures has meant the girls haven't played since. The last league fixture for the Piod Pinc was a 12-7 defeat at Pembroke on 12 November. The girls currently sit in third position in the Admiral National League - West Wales on 16 points and behind Porthcawl and Pembroke, but with a game in hand to both. The next scheduled league game is not until 28 January when the girls travel to Morriston.

The Youth team currently sit in mid table with a league playing record of 3 wins and 2 defeats from 5 games played. Like all other teams within the club the rain has seen fixtures postponed. A defeat at home to Lampeter at the end of October has put a dent in league aspirations and now sees the boys sitting in sixth position. A great victory over a strong Rhiwbina side in the Welsh National Youth Cup saw the Youth team progress into the third round of the competition where they faced Gorsenion RFC. Unfortunately,  a 17-25 saw the boys exit the Cup but having given a good account of themselves.

Junior team wise the club still remains strong with Under 16 15, 14, 11, 10, 9, 8 and 7s competing this season. All teams have given a good account of themselves pre-Christmas but again have been frustrated by cancellations caused by the bad weather. The club would like to again thank and commend the work of the volunteer coaches and officials in our junior section for their continued hard work and dedication. It was great to see so many of the junior sides having fun at their Christmas social gatherings over the festive period. The juniors supplying a conveyor belt of players is absolutely essential in the ongoing sustainability of Tumble RFC and we look forward to seeing players progress through the club age groups.

Off the field there have been better times recently for the Great Mountain Workingmen's Club but we still need to strive to guarantee the long term survival of the club. The loss of the club at the heart of the village would be a massive loss for the local community. 

At Parc y Mynydd Mawr a successful active travel grant is seeing a new path network being constructed throughout the ground. These are now nearing competition with a path leading down from Ty Isha Road to the top rugby field the last stage to be completed early in the new year. The paths have improved access to the rugby facilities and the park in general. They have improved the appearance of the park and have given better access to those in the community with mobility limitations. They also better link Ysgol Y Tymbl and the village to all areas of the park. We look forward for the final section to be completed so we can tidy up the area around the changing rooms. We again thank Llannon Community Council for their successful grant application. 

As a club we also press forward with our plans to develop better rugby and community facilities at Parc y Mynydd Mawr, including new changing rooms. We are now working on the feasibility/design of such a development following our successful sustainable communities grant application and hope to be in a position to update you soon.

The club wishes all of it's teams a successful second half to the season and welcomes all back to Parc y Mynydd Mawr in 2024.

Ymlaen Y Piod