South Wales Police Rugby Football Club is 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 ...
team based in
Bridgend
Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...
,
South Wales. The club is a member of the
Welsh Rugby Union 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
Ospreys.
In 2012, they withdrew from the Welsh league system due to lack of players, they will continue to play in police competitions and may return to the Welsh league in the future.
History
South Wales Police RFC was established in June 1969 when the rugby teams of four different police forces amalgamated. These police teams represented Cardiff City,
Glamorgan, Merthyr Borough and Swansea Borough. The team's first match was during the 1969/70 season against
Pontypridd RFC
Pontypridd Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Pontypridd) are a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. They compete in the Indigo Group Premiership, which they won for four consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2015, and ...
, a game the police won. In June 1971 the club gained membership to the Welsh Rugby Union forcing the players to choose between their 'civilian' clubs or to switch to the South Wales Police.
The club has since provided many players to the
Welsh national team
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, Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW)
, Confederation = UEFA (Europe)
, Coach = Rob Page
, Captain = Gareth Bale
, Most caps = Gareth Bale (111)
, Top scorer = Gareth ...
, including Bleddyn Bowen who captained Wales. The club's Senior XV are also one of the more active touring teams and have played in Africa, Europe, America and Asia.
Club honours
*
Snelling Sevens
The Snelling Sevens (also known as the Snelling Seven-a-Side Trophy and originally known as the Welsh Seven-a-Side Tournament) was an annual Welsh Rugby Union sevens competition that ran from 1954 until 1995.
The tournament was inaugurated in ...
1993 - Champions
Tours
*2007/08 season - Bermuda
Bermuda
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, anthem = "God Save the King"
, song_type = National song
, song = "Hail to Bermuda"
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
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''10'' - South Wales Police RFC ''31''
Notable former players
*
Bleddyn Bowen
Bleddyn Bowen (born 16 July 1961) is a former international Wales rugby union player.
Bleddyn Bowen played club rugby for South Wales Police and Swansea RFC. His first international game was in 1983, along with five other first caps, against Ro ...
(23 caps), captained Wales whilst playing for South Wales Police RFC
*
Richie Collins (38 caps)
* Richie Donavan (1 cap)
* Alex Finlayson (3 caps)
* Ian Gallagher (1 cap)
*
Ian Hall
Ian William Hall (born 27 December 1939) is an English former first-class cricketer and professional footballer. He played cricket for Derbyshire between 1959 and 1972, and played football for Derby County F.C. from 1959 to 1962 and for Mansfi ...
(8 caps)
* Hugh Williams Jones (17 caps)
* Mike Knill (1 cap)
* Martyn Morris (12 caps)
* Stuart Parfitt (3 caps)
*
Rowland Phillips (10 caps)
*
Steve Sutton (9 caps)
* John Wakeford (2 caps)
References
Rugby clubs established in 1969
Welsh rugby union teams
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