Abercarn Rugby Football Club are a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

club based in Abercarn near the city of Newport. They currently play in the Welsh Rugby Union Division 3 having been relegated in two consecutive seasons; from Division 3 East in 2007 and Division 4 East in 2008. The club then immediately gained promotion back to Division 4 East in 2009 and then gained promotion back to Div 3 in 2012, winning the Swalec Bowl in 2010 along the way. Abercarn RFC is a

feeder club In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

for the

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...

Club history

Abercarn is a club with a long history having been founded over 100 years ago. In 1950 Abercarn RFC lost three members of their club including their club captain, Don Rowlands and coach, Ray Box in the

Llandow air disaster The Llandow air disaster was an aircraft accident in Wales in 1950. At that time it was the world's worst air disaster with a total of 80 fatalities. The aircraft, an Avro Tudor V, had been privately hired to fly rugby union enthusiasts to an ...

. The event is remembered by the club in their team badge, with a plane propeller sitting in its centre. Abercarn RFC have produced some famous players including Paul Turner ( Newport RFC,

Pontypool RFC Pontypool Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in the town of Pontypool, which plays in the WRU Championship (known as the SWALEC Championship for sponsorship purposes). Due to the regionalisation of Welsh rugby in 2003, Pontyp ...

Coach) and

Nathan Budgett Nathan John Budgett (born 2 November 1975 in Newport)Nathan Budgett player profile
Scrum.com

(Wales & Bristol RFC). Abercarn currently plays at the Walfare Ground, at the rear of Cwmcarn High School. For the start of the 2009/2010 season, Abercarn RFC has reintroduced a development team known as the 'Abercarn Devils' who compete in the Worthington Gwent 2nd XV Division. The Devils play their home fixtures on Cwmcarn School Fields. Former outside half Ben Farley made the locally hugely controversial move to rivals Risca RFC in the summer of 2010, the first time this has happened since 1937.

Notable former players

* Norman Harris (7 caps for Wales rugby league) *

Dicky Ralph Dicky Ralph (21 January 1908 – 5 October 1989) was a Welsh international rugby fly-half who played rugby union for Newport and rugby league with Leeds and Batley. He won six caps for Wales at rugby union, and also represented Wales at rug ...

(6 caps) * David 'Dai' Rees

Club honours

*2008-09

WRU Division Five East The Welsh Rugby Union Division Five East (also called the SWALEC Division Five East for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby union league in Wales. Competition format and sponsorship Competition There are 11 clubs in the WRU Division Five East. Dur ...

- Champions *2009-10 SWALEC Bowl - ChampionsAbercarn toast SWALEC Bowl triumph
WRU.co.uk, 8 May 2010

References

External links

Abercarn rugby football club
Welsh rugby union teams {{wales-rugbyunion-team-stub