Blaina Rugby Football Club are a Welsh

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

Blaina Blaina ( cy, Blaenau ) is a small town, situated deep within the South Wales Valleys between Brynmawr and Abertillery in the unitary authority of Blaenau Gwent, ancient parish of Aberystruth, preserved county of Gwent and historic county o ...

in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. They presently play in the Welsh Rugby Union Division Three East league and are a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons.

History

Towards the end of the 19th century industrialism in the late

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

was spreading through the South Wales Valleys. With the migrant workers into the

South Wales coalfield The South Wales Coalfield ( cy, Maes glo De Cymru) extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, espe ...

came the game of

and in 1875 players from local sides amalgamated to form a club which played on a ground provided by the Lancaster company. Their chief patron and founder was a Mr. Sidney Lancaster.Smith (1980), pg 27. The club applied for and was accepted into the Welsh Football Union in 1895.Smith (1980), pg 101. That same year, Blaina joined the newly formed Monmouthshire league, along with teams such as Abercarn,

Cwmbran Cwmbran ( ; cy, Cwmbrân , also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales. Lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was designated as a New Town in 1949 to prov ...

, Ebbw Vale and Pontymister RFC began to produce a crop of players with good potential.Smith (1980), pg 105. In 1904, as part of the Home Nations Championship, Jack Evans became the first player to be directly capped for an international team from the club. Evans played just one match for

, a draw away to England, but showed great commitment to his team throughout his life, and he refused several approaches to turn professional.Jenkins (1991), pg 55. The draw of professionalism was a problem towards all union clubs, and Blaina lost one of their better internationals when Emlyn Watkins joined Leeds RLFC in 1927, just after collecting three caps in the 1926 Five Nations Championship.Jenkins (1991), pg 162. In 1913, the WFU decided to reintroduce a knock-out competition to combat the growing popularity of

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. Although the competition was not a great success, its inaugural year saw Blaina face

Aberavon Aberavon ( cy, Aberafan) is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a distr ...

in the final at Bridgend.Smith (1980), pg 181. Blaina lost in the final 10-0.Smith (1980), pg 486. In May 2006 Blaina RFC were one of the 13 'Rebel' clubs who brought a vote of no confidence against the WRU, which centred on financing and the handling of former coach

Mike Ruddock Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh rugby union coach who is currently an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC . Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors until his resignatio ...

's departure. The vote failed heavily with only 20 votes for the motion and over 300 against.Welsh clubs give backing to Union - BBC Sports, sourced 16th Aug 2007
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Notable players

''See also :Blaina RFC players'' * Jake Blackmore *

Tom Clapp Tom Clapp (25 October 1858 – 15 October 1933) was an English-born international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Newport and Nantyglo RFC. He won 14 caps for Wales and captained the team on three occasions. Clapp was the first ...

(14 caps) - Wales captain * Jack Evans (1 cap) * William George Evans *

Jack Gore John Henry Gore (16 June 1899 – 18 March 1971) was a Welsh international rugby flanker who played rugby union for Blaina and rugby league for Salford. His son, Billy Gore, played international rugby for Wales national rugby union team the sa ...

(4 caps) * Tom Graham (12 caps) * Gareth S Kearney *

(Wales B Cap) * Emlyn Watkins (3 caps) * Jack Wetter * Jack Williams (7 caps) Smith (1980), pg 473. Stupid Lee

Bibliography

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References

{{Rugby Wales links Welsh rugby union teams