Penarth RFC
Encyclopedia
Penarth Rugby Football Club is a Welsh
rugby union
club based since 1924 at The Athletic Field, Lavernock Road, in Penarth
, in the Vale of Glamorgan
in Wales
.
, Cardiff
. Originally known as the Batchelor XV the team amalgamated with Penarth Dreadnoughts in 1882 and renamed as Penarth Football Club - soccer being known as Association football at the time. Locally the team became known as the "Donkey Island Butcher Boys", a nickname that occasionally remains to this day, along with the familial name of the "Seasiders". Early games had been played on land owned by Glebe Street butcher and early club benefactor, David Cornwall and located on the field where All Saints Church now stands in Victoria Square.
In 1891 the pitch was relocated to land owned by the Earl of Plymouth
roughly where the Masonic Hall now stands on Stanwell Road, behind Victoria School. During the 1914 - 1918 Great War the pitch was dug up and used to grow vegetables for local residents. During the war seventeen Penarth RFC players were killed while performing their army service in France and are commemorated by the Memorial Stand above the clubhouse’s Long Room. At the end of the war the club moved again, this time to a field on Lavernock Road opposite the Penarth County Grammar School
sports field, owned by Fred Davies of Morristown. After a brief spell on Thurston’s field (where Erw Delyn School now stands) the team finally relocated to its permanent home at the Athletics Field, provided to the community by the Earl of Plymouth for use by the town's rugby, cricket and hockey teams.
(between 1888 – 1892), George Rowles
(1892) and John M C Dyke (1906). Three Penarth players were selected to tour New Zealand
with the 1908 Anglo-Welsh team
, they were brothers Len and Ralph Thomas and John Dyke (Ralph Thomas was injured prior to embarcation and was not able to join the tour). Also on the Anglo-Welsh team was former Penarth captain Reggie Gibbs
, by then playing with Cardiff RFC
. Annually between 1910 and 1913 Penarth RFC toured France playing matches against teams from Tarbes
, Bayonne pau Brive, Bordeaux
and Le Havre
.
Tommy Garrett, the son of Richard Garrett together with Tommy Crossman played for Wales against England in a school-boy international during 1909. Both their international caps and Tommy Crossman’s jersey are held in the club archive. Other players who gained their Welsh international caps from Penarth were Mel Rosser
(1924), Jack Bassett
(1929 – 1932). Gomer Hughes
(1934), Frank Trott (1939 - 1945 wartime international games), Elwyn Jones played for the Barbarians against the 1963 All Blacks
. Jack Bassett was also selected to tour with the British Lions
in 1930 playing in all five tests matches before captaining Wales on nine separate occasions and also playing for the Barbarians.
Glamorgan and England cricketer and all-round sportsman, Austin Matthews
also played for Penarth RFC and later Northampton RFC. In 1929, during his time with Penarth, Austin was a final Welsh rugby trialist and his cap is held in the Penarth Club's archive. Matthews captained Northampton RFC between 1935 - 1937. His Northampton cap is also lodged with the Penarth RFC archive together with the cap gained by Austin's father, Frederick, as a final Welsh rugby trialist in 1896. Austin also represented Wales at table tennis.
Until a steady slow decline in the club's fortunes and a major reorganisation of Welsh rugby during the mid 1970s, Penarth RFC continued to be a regular force in the 'Welsh First Class Clubs' playing their weekly matches against top quality sides from Cardiff
, Newport
, Swansea
, Bridgend
, Neath
, Pontypridd
, Pontypool
, Bath
and Gloucester
.
The highlight of the club's year was the traditional hosting of the world-famous Barbarians Football Club
at annual Good Friday
fixtures that were always attended by enthusiastic capacity crowds. This fixture marked the start of the "Baa-Baas" annual South Wales tour from their "spiritual home" of Penarth, which also encompassed playing Cardiff RFC
on the Saturday, Swansea RFC
on Easter Monday and Newport RFC on the Tuesday.
The non-match day of Easter Sunday would always see the Barbarians playing golf at the Glamorganshire Golf Club
, in Penarth, while the former Esplanade Hotel, that was located on the seafront at Penarth would host the gala party for the trip, sponsored by the Penarth RFC club. The first match took place in 1901, and over the next 75 encounters, Penarth won eleven games, drew four and lost 60. Between 1920 and the first Athletics Field game in 1925 the Good Friday games were hosted on Penarth County Grammar School’s sports field. The final Penarth v Barbarians game was played in 1986 by which time the Penarth club had slipped from its former prominent position in Welsh rugby.
However, a special commemorative game, recognising the 100 years since the first Good Friday match, took place in 2001 and was played at the Athletic Field next to the Penarth clubhouse the day before the Barbarians played Wales
at the Millennium Stadium
. Gary Teichmann
captain of both the South African
International squad and the Barbarians, unveiled a plaque at the clubhouse to mark the event.
Following the last Baa-Baas game on Good Friday
1986 the club was fortunate enough to secure one fixture against the French Barbarians
in October 1987. Penarth RFC is currently the only Welsh club side to have played against the premier French tourists.
Jack Bassett
(15 caps) James Bridie
John Dyke
, Wales and British Lions Dickie Garrett
(8 caps) Reggie Gibbs
(16 caps) Gomer Hughes
Iorwerth 'Iorrie' Isaacs
Leslie "Les" Manfield
Austin Matthews
Jamie Ringer
Mel Rosser
George Rowles
Ralph Sweet-Escott
Hemi Taylor
LS Thomas 1908 British Lions
Former Penarth Youth RFC player Jamie Ringer
took part in the 2006 Commonwealth Games
in Melbourne
, as part of the Wales national rugby union team (sevens)
. Also that year former Wales rugby Captain Hemi Taylor
, a playing member of Penarth RFC senior team, presented the club's highly successful youth section with a cheque for £1,500 on behalf of the ‘Bears Golf Society'. Originally the Bears, who formed in 1982, raised money only for the senior Penarth team
After a hard and concerted campaign in 2006-07, Penarth RFC won promotion to the Welsh National League Division 3 South-East by finishing runner-up in Division 4 South-East.
After the 2009-2010 season the team gained promotion to Division 2 East
Penarth are coached by Mike Clare, a former club captain and David Morgan a teacher at Treorchy Comprehensive School.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
club based since 1924 at The Athletic Field, Lavernock Road, in Penarth
Penarth
Penarth is a town and seaside resort in the Vale of Glamorgan , Wales, 5.2 miles south west from the city centre of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff and lying on the north shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay...
, in the Vale of Glamorgan
Vale of Glamorgan
The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
Origins and early history
Penarth RFC was founded in 1879 by Cyril and Llewellyn Batchelor, sons of the John Batchelor whose statue stands in The HayesThe Hayes
The Hayes is a commercial area in the southern city centre of the Welsh capital, Cardiff. Based around the road of that name leading south towards the east end of the city centre, the area is mostly pedestrianised....
, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
. Originally known as the Batchelor XV the team amalgamated with Penarth Dreadnoughts in 1882 and renamed as Penarth Football Club - soccer being known as Association football at the time. Locally the team became known as the "Donkey Island Butcher Boys", a nickname that occasionally remains to this day, along with the familial name of the "Seasiders". Early games had been played on land owned by Glebe Street butcher and early club benefactor, David Cornwall and located on the field where All Saints Church now stands in Victoria Square.
In 1891 the pitch was relocated to land owned by the Earl of Plymouth
Robert Windsor-Clive, 1st Earl of Plymouth
Robert George Windsor-Clive, 1st Earl of Plymouth GBE, CB, PC , known as The Lord Windsor between 1869 and 1905, was a British nobleman and Conservative politician.-Background:...
roughly where the Masonic Hall now stands on Stanwell Road, behind Victoria School. During the 1914 - 1918 Great War the pitch was dug up and used to grow vegetables for local residents. During the war seventeen Penarth RFC players were killed while performing their army service in France and are commemorated by the Memorial Stand above the clubhouse’s Long Room. At the end of the war the club moved again, this time to a field on Lavernock Road opposite the Penarth County Grammar School
Stanwell School
Stanwell School is a co-educational foundation status comprehensive school and Sixth form college located in Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales for children aged between eleven and eighteen...
sports field, owned by Fred Davies of Morristown. After a brief spell on Thurston’s field (where Erw Delyn School now stands) the team finally relocated to its permanent home at the Athletics Field, provided to the community by the Earl of Plymouth for use by the town's rugby, cricket and hockey teams.
The Golden Years
The earliest Penarth RFC players to achieve international caps for Wales were Richard GarrettDickie Garrett
Richard 'Dickie' Garrett was a Welsh international rugby union player who played club rugby for Penarth and international rugby for Wales. Garrett was a collier by trade and in 1908 was killed when he was crushed by a coal truck....
(between 1888 – 1892), George Rowles
George Rowles
George Albert Rowles was a Welsh rugby union international halfback who played club rugby for Penarth. He won a single cap for Wales during the 1892 Home Nations Championship...
(1892) and John M C Dyke (1906). Three Penarth players were selected to tour New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
with the 1908 Anglo-Welsh team
1908 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia
The 1908 British Isles tour to New Zealand and Australia was the seventh tour by a British Isles team and the fourth to New Zealand and Australia. The tour is often referred to as the Anglo-Welsh Tour as only English and Welsh players were selected due to the Irish and Scottish Rugby Unions not...
, they were brothers Len and Ralph Thomas and John Dyke (Ralph Thomas was injured prior to embarcation and was not able to join the tour). Also on the Anglo-Welsh team was former Penarth captain Reggie Gibbs
Reggie Gibbs
Reginald "Reggie" Arthur Gibbs was a Welsh international rugby union wing who played club rugby for Penarth and Cardiff. He was capped 16 times for his country and captained his team on one occasion...
, by then playing with Cardiff RFC
Cardiff RFC
Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, but soon relocated to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since...
. Annually between 1910 and 1913 Penarth RFC toured France playing matches against teams from Tarbes
Tarbes
Tarbes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France.It is part of the historical region of Gascony. It is the second largest metropolitan area of Midi-Pyrénées, with 110,000 inhabitants....
, Bayonne pau Brive, Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
and Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
.
Tommy Garrett, the son of Richard Garrett together with Tommy Crossman played for Wales against England in a school-boy international during 1909. Both their international caps and Tommy Crossman’s jersey are held in the club archive. Other players who gained their Welsh international caps from Penarth were Mel Rosser
Mel Rosser
Melvin "Mel" Aaron Rosser sometimes recorded as Melville and Melvyn was a Welsh international rugby centre who played rugby union for Penarth and Cardiff and later turned to professional rugby league joining first Leeds, and then York...
(1924), Jack Bassett
Jack Bassett
Jack Bassett was a Welsh international rugby union full back who played club rugby for Penarth. He won 15 caps for Wales and was selected for the 1930 British Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand...
(1929 – 1932). Gomer Hughes
Gomer Hughes
Gomer Hughes was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1930s and '40s who at representative level played rugby union for Wales, and Wales XV, and at club level for Penarth RFC, playing at Lock, i.e...
(1934), Frank Trott (1939 - 1945 wartime international games), Elwyn Jones played for the Barbarians against the 1963 All Blacks
All Blacks
The New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
. Jack Bassett was also selected to tour with the British Lions
British and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
in 1930 playing in all five tests matches before captaining Wales on nine separate occasions and also playing for the Barbarians.
Glamorgan and England cricketer and all-round sportsman, Austin Matthews
Austin Matthews
Austin David George Matthews was a cricketer who played for Northamptonshire, Glamorgan and England.-Cricketing career:...
also played for Penarth RFC and later Northampton RFC. In 1929, during his time with Penarth, Austin was a final Welsh rugby trialist and his cap is held in the Penarth Club's archive. Matthews captained Northampton RFC between 1935 - 1937. His Northampton cap is also lodged with the Penarth RFC archive together with the cap gained by Austin's father, Frederick, as a final Welsh rugby trialist in 1896. Austin also represented Wales at table tennis.
Until a steady slow decline in the club's fortunes and a major reorganisation of Welsh rugby during the mid 1970s, Penarth RFC continued to be a regular force in the 'Welsh First Class Clubs' playing their weekly matches against top quality sides from Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
, Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, Bridgend
Bridgend
Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of the capital, Cardiff. The river crossed by the original bridge, which gave the town its name, is the River Ogmore but the River Ewenny also passes to the south of the town...
, Neath
Neath
Neath is a town and community situated in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, UK with a population of approximately 45,898 in 2001...
, Pontypridd
Pontypridd
Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...
, Pontypool
Pontypool
Pontypool is a town of approximately 36,000 people in the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales....
, Bath
Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league...
and Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
.
Annual games against the Barbarians FC
Barbarian F.C.
The Barbarian Football Club, usually referred to as the Barbarians and nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team based in Britain...
at annual Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
fixtures that were always attended by enthusiastic capacity crowds. This fixture marked the start of the "Baa-Baas" annual South Wales tour from their "spiritual home" of Penarth, which also encompassed playing Cardiff RFC
Cardiff RFC
Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, but soon relocated to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since...
on the Saturday, Swansea RFC
Swansea RFC
Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premier Division. Its home ground is St Helens Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea. The team is sometimes known as The Whites because of the primary colour of the team strip...
on Easter Monday and Newport RFC on the Tuesday.
The non-match day of Easter Sunday would always see the Barbarians playing golf at the Glamorganshire Golf Club
Glamorganshire Golf Club
Glamorganshire Golf Club is located in Lower Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, 7.3 miles south west from the capital city of Cardiff and is one of the oldest golf clubs in Wales...
, in Penarth, while the former Esplanade Hotel, that was located on the seafront at Penarth would host the gala party for the trip, sponsored by the Penarth RFC club. The first match took place in 1901, and over the next 75 encounters, Penarth won eleven games, drew four and lost 60. Between 1920 and the first Athletics Field game in 1925 the Good Friday games were hosted on Penarth County Grammar School’s sports field. The final Penarth v Barbarians game was played in 1986 by which time the Penarth club had slipped from its former prominent position in Welsh rugby.
However, a special commemorative game, recognising the 100 years since the first Good Friday match, took place in 2001 and was played at the Athletic Field next to the Penarth clubhouse the day before the Barbarians played Wales
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
at the Millennium Stadium
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...
. Gary Teichmann
Gary Teichmann
Gary Hamilton Teichmann is a retired Rhodesian/Zimbabwean-born South African rugby union player. He played number eight and was the captain of the South African national team, the Springboks, between 1995 and 1999...
captain of both the South African
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
International squad and the Barbarians, unveiled a plaque at the clubhouse to mark the event.
Following the last Baa-Baas game on Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
1986 the club was fortunate enough to secure one fixture against the French Barbarians
French Barbarians
The Barbarian Rugby Club, more commonly known as the French Barbarians , are an invitational rugby union team that is based in France. The team is based on the Barbarians and was founded by Jean-Claude Skrela after he played for and adored the Barbarians in the later days of his career...
in October 1987. Penarth RFC is currently the only Welsh club side to have played against the premier French tourists.
Notable former players
- See also :Category:Penarth RFC players
Jack Bassett
Jack Bassett
Jack Bassett was a Welsh international rugby union full back who played club rugby for Penarth. He won 15 caps for Wales and was selected for the 1930 British Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand...
(15 caps) James Bridie
James Bridie (rugby player)
James Bridie was a Scottish-born rugby union scrum-half who played club rugby union for Cardiff and Newport, international Wales and county rugby for Monmouthshire.-Rugby career:...
John Dyke
John Dyke (rugby player)
John Charles Meredith Dyke is a former international rugby union fullback. Dyke made his debut for Wales on 1 December 1906 versus South Africa and was selected for the 1908 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia...
, Wales and British Lions Dickie Garrett
Dickie Garrett
Richard 'Dickie' Garrett was a Welsh international rugby union player who played club rugby for Penarth and international rugby for Wales. Garrett was a collier by trade and in 1908 was killed when he was crushed by a coal truck....
(8 caps) Reggie Gibbs
Reggie Gibbs
Reginald "Reggie" Arthur Gibbs was a Welsh international rugby union wing who played club rugby for Penarth and Cardiff. He was capped 16 times for his country and captained his team on one occasion...
(16 caps) Gomer Hughes
Gomer Hughes
Gomer Hughes was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1930s and '40s who at representative level played rugby union for Wales, and Wales XV, and at club level for Penarth RFC, playing at Lock, i.e...
Iorwerth 'Iorrie' Isaacs
Iorrie Isaacs
Iorwerth 'Iorrie' Isaacs was a Welsh dual-code international rugby flanker who played international rugby for Wales. At club level he played rugby union for Pontypridd, Cardiff and later rugby league for Wales, and Leeds....
Leslie "Les" Manfield
Leslie Manfield
Leslie "Les" Manfield DFC was a Welsh rugby union international. He was the second oldest Welsh international of all time, and at the time of his death, aged 91, the oldest living man to have played as a forward for Wales.-Rugby career:Manfield was born in Mountain Ash, the son of a railway...
Austin Matthews
Austin Matthews
Austin David George Matthews was a cricketer who played for Northamptonshire, Glamorgan and England.-Cricketing career:...
Jamie Ringer
Jamie Ringer
Jamie Ringer is a Wales international rugby union player.A flanker, he played club rugby for Cardiff RFC and Neath RFC before joining Newport Gwent Dragons and earning two Welsh caps in the process...
Mel Rosser
Mel Rosser
Melvin "Mel" Aaron Rosser sometimes recorded as Melville and Melvyn was a Welsh international rugby centre who played rugby union for Penarth and Cardiff and later turned to professional rugby league joining first Leeds, and then York...
George Rowles
George Rowles
George Albert Rowles was a Welsh rugby union international halfback who played club rugby for Penarth. He won a single cap for Wales during the 1892 Home Nations Championship...
Ralph Sweet-Escott
Ralph Sweet-Escott
Ralph Bond Sweet-Escott was an English-born international rugby union half back who played club rugby for Cardiff and was capped three times for Wales. Sweet-Escott also played cricket for Glamorgan representing the county in the Minor Counties Cricket Championship...
Hemi Taylor
Hemi Taylor
Hemi Takatou Taylor is a former international Wales rugby union player. A back row forward, he was part of the Wales squad for the 1995 Rugby World Cup.-Notes:...
LS Thomas 1908 British Lions
Penarth RFC today
The club celebrated its 125th anniversary during the 2004-05 season. During the course of the year a number of special games were played, including fixtures against the Glamorgan County, Welsh Academicals, and Coal Island Éire sides.Former Penarth Youth RFC player Jamie Ringer
Jamie Ringer
Jamie Ringer is a Wales international rugby union player.A flanker, he played club rugby for Cardiff RFC and Neath RFC before joining Newport Gwent Dragons and earning two Welsh caps in the process...
took part in the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, as part of the Wales national rugby union team (sevens)
Wales national rugby union team (sevens)
The Wales national rugby union sevens team is the international rugby sevens side for Welsh rugby union players. They currently compete in the IRB Sevens World Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens and in the Commonwealth Games....
. Also that year former Wales rugby Captain Hemi Taylor
Hemi Taylor
Hemi Takatou Taylor is a former international Wales rugby union player. A back row forward, he was part of the Wales squad for the 1995 Rugby World Cup.-Notes:...
, a playing member of Penarth RFC senior team, presented the club's highly successful youth section with a cheque for £1,500 on behalf of the ‘Bears Golf Society'. Originally the Bears, who formed in 1982, raised money only for the senior Penarth team
After a hard and concerted campaign in 2006-07, Penarth RFC won promotion to the Welsh National League Division 3 South-East by finishing runner-up in Division 4 South-East.
After the 2009-2010 season the team gained promotion to Division 2 East
Penarth are coached by Mike Clare, a former club captain and David Morgan a teacher at Treorchy Comprehensive School.