New Season, New Teams

We are starting to sort out the new season. The most important date is Sunday 31st August, when the new season will start for the Mumbles Crusaders (the new under 9s) with Dan, Mike M and Lyndon and the Mumbles Pirates (the new under 8s) with Alex, Will and Rob. The first Sunday will just get the teams back into action, with registration and subs to be sorted out (with Mike G) on the 7th and 14th September. The first match will be Sunday 21st, at Underhill Park, against Waunarlwydd.

The Crusaders have already started training on Wednesday mornings at 10 down the Park and these will continue in the holidays on the 20th and 27th August.

We'll keep the information posted for all teams on this blog to start with, before we move over to the new sites set up for the Crusaders, Pirates, and for the new under 7s, the Wildcats. We are looking forward to a great new season.

The New Season

We are back!


The new season training starts on Wednesday 6th August at 4.30pm in Underhill Park.


The coaches will be:

Dan Cottrell
Lyndon Lewis
Mike Morgan



The team manager position is currently open, because whilst Mike Gravenor will be our secretary, he will also be working with the Under 7s.


Unless we have a volunteer, I prospose we operate a rota system for team manager for each week. The task is not onerous on the day. It is matter of ticking off attendees, ensuring we have a record of tries scored and noting down any queries.


We will train throughout August on a Wednesday, with sometimes a morning session for a couple of hours.


The basic specification for August will be:

1. Teamship

2. Handling and footwork

3. A light introduction to contact work



At the end of August we will up the contact work:

1. Tackling

2. Ruck/maul

3. Passing before and out of contact



In September we will build towards our first games:

14th September - Ponyberem 7s (squad of 10)

21st September - Waunarlwydd



We will also have a midweek warm up game against the U10 "B" team.


From September onwards, we will train on a Sunday morning when we don't have a match.


We will retain a rotation policy, as we did for the past season. If we feel that one game requires a more robust team, then players will be rotated for the week after.


However if we think a player has lost his confidence or needs more time before he is "match ready", with consultation with the parents concerned, we will rest them.


In the next few weeks we will move to a new website, with our new moniker for the team.


In the meantime, I have produced end of season reports for all the boys, and we email them on request (dan.cottrell@rugby-coach.com).


The subs will be collected via direct debit starting on the 1st September, and we will give you the forms to sign when we see you at training. The subs will be £3.50 a month for the whole year. It means that if your son decides mid-season to drop out, you can stop at that point.


On Monday 1st September at 6.30pm at the club we will be running a boot and shorts swap with the other teams. I have hopefully got H Sports to come along as well to sell on other rugby equipment at a discount price.


Finally on gum shields: we suggest that you sort out your son's own gum shield. The logistics of doing this centrally are cumbersome, especially with braces, missing teeth and other oral complexities. Here is a suggested place to get a fitted gum shield.

Denture Centre
10, Cygnet Close,Killay,Swansea,West GlamorganSA2 7BB
Tel: 01792 281397

Mumbles Presentation evening

Presentation Night and New Photos

Thanks to everyone for a great turnout. These effort are really important for the club. Special thanks to Duncan Jones for taking his time to come and meet the teams. There was a very long queue for autographs and Duncan was fantastic throughout. Having such a well respected player for the evening is really inspiring for the teams.

If you want to see Dan's movie again, it's not at Cannes, but it is HERE.

Any boys that missed out on the night, don't worry we have the medals and photos and will keep them.

Keep up with the Blog for news of next season.

Some Great Photos



There was a professional photographer at the Penclawdd Tournament, and the photos are now on sale from the Junior Section of the Club. It's a bit of a lucky dip, but it is worth taking a look because some are really excellent. Much better quality than Dan or I took during the season. There are some great close-up action shots of the boys in their match against South Gower HERE and HERE. Also some defensive work on display against Penclawdd, three pages of photos HERE.

Presentation Night

Grand Slam star and Osprey Duncan Jones has very kindly agreed to come and meet the boys on Tuesday (20th). So please make sure you don't miss the last event of the season. Be at the Mumbles clubhouse at 6:00. This is an event specially for the 7s and 8s. Hotdogs will be served for the team. We should finish about 7.30 - 8.00. No reason why you can't stay and drink all night though.

Wednesday 14th - No Training

With Dan away alot, it looks like we will take an end-of-season break from training. We will let everyone know the plan for starting up again at the presentation night next week.

Presentation Night!

Finally arranged for the under 7s and under 8s.

Tuesday 20th May from 6:00 at Mumbles Rugby Club.

For all their efforts this year the boys and girls will be presented with a medal by a very special guest. It'll be a great opportunity to have a drink, relax and refelct on a long season. Don't miss Dan's end of term report.

Apologies to those who can't make this time, but it was difficult to find a spot for all parties. We wanted to avoid the half term and after that Wales are off on tour. Anyone not there will still get their medals etc.