Rhymney Rugby Football Club is 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 its m ...

club based in

Rhymney Rhymney (; cy, Rhymni ) is a town and a community in the county borough of Caerphilly, South Wales. It is within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. With the villages of Pontlottyn, Fochriw, Abertysswg, Deri and New Tredegar, Rhymney is ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. The senior team presently plays in the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running ...

Division Two East league. Rhymney is a member of the

and 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 ...

History

Rugby union was first played in Rhymney in the late 19th century, though the exact date is unverified. The earliest reported match appeared in "The Western Mail" with a match against Pontlottyn on the 23rd of September 1882 at the Rhymney Cricket and Football Field. Rhymney won by 3 goals against 2 touches downs. The earliest international player from the town was Bill Evans, who played for Wales against Ireland in 1882 and Scotland in 1883. The earliest known photograph of a Rhymney team, is dated circa 1887. In 1910, Rhymney RFC applied for and was granted membership of the

, and was allowed to play in competitive matches with other teams in the area, primarily in the Monmouthshire League. Rhymney RFC 1887

Like many Welsh clubs in the depression hit 1920s, Rhymney RFC disbanded in 1924 and lost its WRU membership. In 1933, Rhymney RFC reformed and in 1945 regained WRU status. During the 1945 season, Rhymney lost probably their greatest player, Bob Evans, to the top tier team Newport. Club captain Evans went on to represent

on ten occasions and in 1950 played for the British Lions. A period of growth during the 1950s saw the acquisition of a new playing field, viewing stand and the club's first official clubhouse. In 1976, Rhymney hosted

Slava Moscow Slava Moscow is a Russian rugby union club from Moscow. They participate in the Professional Rugby League, the premier rugby competition of Russia. They play in yellow and red. History Honours * USSR/ Russian Championship (2): 1979, 1982 * Runn ...

, the first time a Russian team played in Great Britain. Rhymney won 10-8.

Notable players

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

(2 caps) * Bob Evans (10 caps)''Fields of Praise, The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union 1881-1981'' pp465, David Smith, Gareth Williams (1980) *

Tom James Thomas James MBE (born 11 March 1984) is a British rower, twice Olympic champion and victorious Cambridge Blue. In a British coxless four in 2012 he set a world's best time which still stood as of 2021. Background and early life James was bor ...

(9 caps) * Gareth S Kearney Keith 'Trigger' Edwards

References

Rugby union teams in Wales {{Wales-rugbyunion-team-stub