Sunday 30th - training only

No match for either the 7s or 8s (Pontardawe have cancelled).

Training at 9:30 for both as usual.

Remember the clocks go forward on Saturday, so we lose an hour. Early start then. At least you'll find a parking space.

Star Quality

Anyone switching on the tele on Wednesday night might have been horrified to see our very own Tom L lying comatose in hospital. Fears that we'd have to do without out the 8s elusive speedster for the Pontardawe match next week were allayed when it turned out to be the latest episode of Torchwood. And it got even better when Tom was scooped up into the arms of none-other-than Captain Jack Harkness and brought back from the brink of death in the nick of time.

You can still catch Tom's performance on the BBC iplayer on the BBC website. The episode is called 'From out of the rain'. Tom (and sister) appear in the back of a car at about 23 minutes. The big scene with Capn Jack is the climax of the episode on about 41 mins. Be prepared, it is heart-rending stuff. Well done Tom - you kept that quiet at training on Wednesday!

Remember to keep April 26th free for the fundraiser at the clubhouse. 8 till late with entertainment from the Contenders. See Donna for tickets. £5. All goes to the 7s and 8s teams. Bargain. Be there.

Easter Weekend

No rugby this weekend.

8s back in training next wednesday 4:30 (26th March).

Next match against Pontardawe Sunday 30th.

Penclawdd Match Off

Not surprisingly with all the rain the pitches are under water and all games on Sunday are off.

Training for 8s on Wednesday if it clears up.

P.S. YEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! Come on Wales!

The rain doesn't look so bad now. Enjoy the night and a Sunday lie in for a change!

Penclawdd Match, Sunday 16th

....is on for the 7s and 8s.

Meet at the Penclawdd ground at 10:30. You can get to Penclawdd either through Gowerton or over the top through Three Crosses. Either way, continue on the coast road (B4295) through Penclawdd. The Recreation Ground is on the left, just on the outskirts of Penclawdd, set up above the road over looking the estuary and with a big tall wire fence around it.

Keep an eye out here for updates if it keeps raining.

Wednesday Training Off

The pitch is in very bad condition already and it is forecast to rain heavily tonight and tomorrow. We have to make a call now, and it is to cancel training this week.

On Sunday we have an away trip to Penclawdd for both the under 7s and under 8s. Details will be posted later, but keep a close eye on the blog with more rain forecast for later in the week.

Fundraiser Reminder

Tickets are now on sale for the party at the rugby club on April 26th. This is to raise money for the u7s and u8s teams, but do bring any of your friends. The best kept beer in Mumbles and a night of high voltage rock and roll from the Contenders, featuring Huw from the u10s! What more could you want?

See Donna or Kay on a Sunday or during training for the tickets.

Waunarlwydd Match

A Shaun Edwards-style rush defence was employed this morning. Tom has the tag, and Rhys, Lloyd and Cam close in to smoother the attack.



Thanks to everyone for taking part in a good game this morning, especially Waun who were short of a few players but were happy to play two long halves. And to Pierce, Rhys, Ben and Ciaran for running out for Waun in the second half. The support play got better and better as the game went on and by the end of the second half there was always someone on the shoulder of the ball carrier to keep the ball going forward. Quite often it turned out to be Parksy (of the Jack variety) who bagged 4 tries. Tries were well shared out though (Ciaran, Cian, Aled, Ben, Rhys), and it was great to see so many flowing from team play and passing, with everyone making yards.

Lost Property
I picked up some kit left behind after the game this morning. It was left in the area where both our boys and Waunarlwydd were changing. If anyone has lost an Ospreys Black jersey (this season's version) and a black Le Coq Sportif track suit top, get in touch with Mike or Dan. I'll also bring them along to training on Wednesday and next week's match (at Penclawdd).

Sunday 9th March Details

Under 7s at Underhill for training. 9:30 start.

Under 8s at Underhill for match against Waunarlwydd. Meet at 10:30.

Lost property

Paul, whose son Elias plays in U7, says that they cannot find their daughter's changing bag, and wondered if someone picked up at Dunvant on Sunday.

It's a small "In the night garden" blue and yellow ruck sack. If anyone has picked it up, please could they contact Paul on 07518459052.

Dunvant Match Reports

At about 10:45 this morning it looked like kid soup at the Broadacre. But the u7s soon got going and with the help of Dan commandeering some cones it all fell into place for the 8s as well. Thanks very much to Dunvant for hosting. And it was great to meet up with Gowerton again.

First up is Rob's report on the 7s road trip....

We had some great moments today on the field and we got an away win against Dunvant. My score tally said about 5-3. Great scores by: Matthew, Jake, Tomas, Dylan, Elias, Max, Tal, and there’s probably some I left out, Dunvant made it hard for us as our defence at times was stretched but the quick thinking of great taggers: Cai, Tomasz, Josh, Matthew, Elias, Max, Sean and Ethan soon got turnover after turnover! Some great grafting led to turnovers, quick thinking in loose ball situations, and supporting other team members. Quote of the Day comes from Cai to Ref “can we have a scrum?”

Before the Gowerton match, Dylan was awarded his Mumbles jersey and everyone looked smart. Gowerton proved a good side today they just nicked it from us at the end with 4-3, but our excuse was we were starting to tire then anyway as the waft of hotdogs came from their clubhouse!

Well done to all again for the determination in getting your children to the Dunvant RFC ground especially the Mothers who stood there cheering on their sons when they clearly could have taken advantage of a laze in bed!

The under 8s were split down the middle again this week, using random numbers generated on my parallel computing cluster.
We had the novelty of fielding sides with no subs which led to far more participation, continuity and interplay between the boys. Even though Keiran was injured during an over-enthusiastic karate celebration, Mike Morgan took half the boys, and even the whistle. Here's the unexpurgated report.

"Both games were very good contests played in a excellent spirit in which two evenly matched teams thoroughly entertained both sets of supporters. For Mumbles all players showed excellent teamwork, ability to pass and support and committment to legitimate defense. Particularly satisfying for Mumbles was their ball retention and ability to go through the "Set of Six Tags", offloading to the nearest man in support (not looking for their best mate) which resulted on a number of occasions on making good territorial gains before surrendering field position - this shows that teamwork and skill levels are improving and that with no restrictions on the number of phases next year this facet of play is very promising and is to be encouraged. Thanks to Greg for marshalling the troops from the rear and for the timekeeping. Also thanks to Dai (Gowerton) and Kevin (Dunvant) for encouraging their sides to play in the true spirit of the game. Final Scores - Mumbles 6 Gowerton 6. Mumbles 4 Dunvant 4.

PS - Issue regarding Dans treasured lost Whistle - Last seen heading towards Gowerton with Lyndon in hot pursuit - If the Gentleman concerned could give us a clue to its whereabouts by breaking wind very aggresively we will follow the high toned pitch and retrieve it through a local aneasthetic."

That leaves the other half of the 8s. In between playing contact rugby with blonde mascots Will Langford and Nye Gravenor I caught most of these entertaining games. Dunvant found the boys a real handful as everyone was really involved with the game, supporting and looking for the pass. Hard running from Ben C, Cam, Lloyd and Rhys, was complimented by mazy runs from Tom G, Ben M, Cian and Jack and 10 tries followed. Against Gowerton, after running in some early tries and opening up a good lead, Mumbles put on a great defensive display. Having played them twice already this season we know they are a good fast side and pass the ball really well. This was no different, and it looked like it would be another very close one. The boys dug in though and were only breached once, and that with the final play of the game.

6 Games of rugby. Happy Mother's Day.