Risca 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 ...

club based in

Risca Risca ( cy, Rhisga) is a town in the Caerphilly County Borough and the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. Risca has a railway station, opened on the Ebbw Valley Railway ...

, Monmouthshire. 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 Newport Gwent Dragons.

Club history

Risca RFC was formed in 1875 when a group of workers from Risca Quarry decided to put away six pence a week until they could afford sport jerseys and a rugby ball. The team was given permission to play on the Church House Field opposite the local Church House Hotel. The initial games were played against scratch sides and there are no recorded results. During the late 19th century, the Church ground was purchased by the local council and the team was forced to move. The nearest ground was in

Pontymister Pontymister (Welsh:''Pont-y-meistr'') is a small village in Caerphilly county borough in Wales. Location Pontymister is attached to its neighbour, the town of Risca. History Originally a farm called ''Tŷ Isaf'', the village came about as a ne ...

, and the club decided to change its name to Pontymister Rovers to reflect their new location. The Rovers team was one of the more successful clubs in the Monmouthshire area, and this was reflected in

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

, when the team produced its first ever international player, Joseph Booth. Although Booth only won a single cap for

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 ...

, the fact that a player from the area was chosen at all was a high achievement during a period where only a handful of city clubs dominated Welsh selection. In 1906 the club moved to the Stores Ground and re-established themselves as Risca RFC. In 1961 the club opened a purpose built clubhouse at the ground, which was superseded in 1998 by a modern sport and leisure centre. In 2013 the club installed a state of the art indoor 3G pitch inside their sporting complex, which is now the envy of many clubs in South Wales. Risca RFC won the 2009-10 Division 4 East title on 18 May 2010 and won promotion to Division 3 East. Under the guidance of head coach Tyrone Morris, in 2013/2014 Risca RFC won Division 3 East title gaining promotion into Division 1 of the revised league structure.

Notable past players

* Joseph Booth (1 cap) * Archibald "Archie" Brown * David "Dai" Lewis Jones *

Tom Roberts Thomas William Roberts (8 March 185614 September 1931) was an English-born Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. After studying in Melbourne, he travelled to Europe ...

(9 caps) * William "Buller" Williams (4 caps) *

Ryan Jones Ryan Paul Jones (born 13 March 1981) is a Wales former international rugby union player who played at number eight, blindside flanker or second row. He was involved in three Grand Slam wins, in 2005, as captain in 2008, and 2012. He is one ...

(75 caps)

Club honours

*Ben Francis Cup Winners 1926, 1935, 1964, 1986 & 2001 *WRU Plate finalist 2008/09 - Runners up *

WRU Division Four East The Welsh Rugby Union Division Four East (also called the SWALEC Division Four East for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby union league in Wales. Competition There are 12 clubs in the WRU Division Four East. During the course of a season (which las ...

2009/10 - Champions *

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 ...

2013/14 - Champions

References

Welsh rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1875 {{wales-rugbyunion-team-stub