Penygraig 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

Penygraig Penygraig is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. As a community Penygraig contains the neighbouring districts of Dinas, Edmondstown, Penrhiwfer and Williamstown. Penygraig is within ...

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 ...

. Penygraig RFC formed in 1877, one of the earlier rugby clubs to emerge, and by the 1890s were a strong voice in the Welsh Rugby Union, one of four clubs from the

Rhondda Valley Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley ...

that held WRU representation.

Early history

In the 1887/1888 season, Penygraig played 19 matches, winning 12, drawing 1, and losing 6. Some notable wins was against Bridgend RFC and Penarth RFC. In the 1888/1889 season, Penygraig played 34 matches, winning 21, drawing 5, and losing 8. The early history of Welsh international rugby saw players selected not so much for form or ability but club connections. Penygraig were one of the first clubs to break this pattern managing to gain international caps for two of their players, David 'Dai' Evans in 1896 (4 caps) and Jack Rhapps (1 cap) in 1897. Both men were early exponents of the 'Rhondda forward', heavy labourers chosen for their aggressive style of play. Despite being based in the heart of the industrial South Wales coalfield, Penygraig also supplied one of the most devastating fly-halves of early Welsh rugby when Percy Bush went through the team's ranks before joining

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

. During the turn of the 19th century, Penygraig, like many other successful Welsh clubs, lost several players to the professional Northern Union. Scouts from Northern

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

teams approached rugby footballers to play in England for a wage. Penygraig lost Rhapps to

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

in 1897 and Frank Shugars to

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in 1904. In 1908 Penygraig were playing to such a high standard that they were chosen as one of the invitational club teams to face the very first touring

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...

team. Played at the Athletic Ground in

Tonypandy Tonypandy is a town, community and electoral ward located in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. A former industrial coal mining town, the town ...

, the Australians won 11-3. Penygraig's ground hosted the first match of the 1973 Japan rugby union tour of Wales, England and France, when the touring team played an East Glamorgan representative side.

2002/03 Silver Ball final

Penygraig RFC beat

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 ...

30-25 in the 2003

Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy The Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy (also known as the Glamorgan County High Motive Silver Ball Trophy) is a Welsh rugby union competition open to all non-premier Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) clubs playing in the Glamorgan , HQ = ...

final; but after the game the entire winning Penygraig XV refused to give a drug sample to

UK Sport UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. It was created ...

officials requested by the WRU. The club appealed against the mass suspension the WRU was seeking and it took until January 2004 for a decision to be made. The outcome was the suspension of 19 Penygraig RFC players for 15 months, and the suspension of the club secretary for two years.

Club honours

*1994-95 Welsh League Division 8B Central - Champions *2002-03

WRU Division Three East The Welsh Rugby Union Division Three East (also called the SWALEC Division Three East for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby union league in Wales. Competition format and sponsorship Competition There are 12 clubs in the WRU Division Three East. D ...

- Champions *2002-03

- Winners *2016-17 WRU Division Three East central B - Champions

Games played against international opposition

Notable players

:''See also :Penygraig RFC players'' * Percy Bush * David "Dai" Maldwyn Davies * Dai Evans * Harry Jones (2 caps) *

Willie Llewellyn William Morris "Willie" Llewellyn (1 January 1878 – 12 March 1973) was a Welsh international rugby union player. He captained Wales in 1905 and London Welsh in 1902. He was a member of the winning Welsh team who beat the 1905 touring All Black ...

(20 caps) * Jack Rhapps (1 cap rugby union) (2 caps rugby league) * Frank Shugars (8 caps rugby league) * Dick Thomas (4 caps) * Frank Wrentmore, turned to professional

with Mid-Rhondda RLFC and is also notable as being one of the British soldiers involved in the Christmas truce of 1914.Christmas Truce 1914
The soldiers *

Lee Byrne Lee Byrne (born 1 June 1980) is a Welsh former professional rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. Club career Byrne started his career playing rugby union for Bridgend Athletic RFC; and Tondu RFC, as a ful ...

(41 caps)

Notes

{{Rugby Wales links Rugby clubs established in 1877 Welsh rugby union teams Sport in Rhondda Cynon Taf 1877 establishments in Wales