This Saturday 5th September sees the return of the youth rugby season at the Quins. Firstly it should be noted that for the first time in many a year Carmarthen as a town will only have on youth team following the disbanding of Carmarthen Athletic at the end of last season. Youth teams disbanding has been a worrying trend in the Carmarthenshire area with the following clubs also disbanding their youth teams, Lampeter, Furnace, Llangennech, Kidwelly and Tycroes. The Quins did reach out to all teams and offered rugby opportunities to any players affected by this, we sincerely hope this is a blip and these clubs will see youth teams returning as soon as possible.
Whilst the Quins lost a number of players to senior rugby at the end of the season we have been bolstered by a strong cohort from last years under 16s who come on the back of being Carmarthenshire Cup finalists narrowly missing out on a win going down 38-35 to a strong Llandovery side. There have been three transfers in to the side adding some exciting talent to the squad. The Coaching and Management team has also seen some additions. Grant Wrigglesworth remains as Head Coach along with Chris Bowen and Meurig Rees as forwards coach. Richard “Dickie” Davies joins the forwards coaching team aiming to bring his vast experience as a quins player to the environment. Management of the team is now shared with Helen Hastings as Off Field Team Manager, Neil Evans On Field Team Manager and Mark Morris as kit manager.
Pre Season commenced in July in earnest with great attendance as players were desperate to put their hands up to be counted. The preparation paid dividends in two pre-season friendlies. First up was Burry Port away with a team oozing class and several age grade representatives within, The Quins stuck to their task and came away with a pleasing win 32pts to 21pts. It was good to set down a marker given that both teams are in the same league pre-Christmas.
Second up was a trip away to seaside town Tenby for a Friday night game. Again, the Quins knuckled down and worked on their shape in attack and defence and their firepower saw them come away with a 45pts to 14pts win.
Two pleasing performances for the coaches but admittedly there are still things to work on when the season starts in earnest this Saturday.
Following a lengthy consideration and consultation process within the squad, the Captain for the upcoming season is second Row Tomos Jac Davies and his vice captains will be prop Cai Soanes and centre Gwion Evans. All three have lots of rugby experience and will be leading the team from the front ensuring the new faces from the Under 16s and incoming players are part of the team and set the standards.
This Saturday the game against Newcastle Emlyn is the first round of the Carmarthenshire Cup and the Quins will be looking to reverse the result of the last game of last season where Newcastle Emlyn ran out winners. Games between the two are always hard fought encounters and this will be no different with Emlyn including several of last years under 16s in their team who recently won the Aberaeron 7s competition against stiff opposition which showed their class.
Reflecting on pre-season and looking ahead to the season Head Coach Grant Wrigglesworth had this to say, “Its been an exciting time in pre-season with the players giving the coaches some real headaches on what selection will look like for the season ahead, but that is where we want to be. We are striving to ensure the players develop and better themselves, we can coach them as much as we can but they have shown they want that improvement this season. The two games were satisfying from a coaching perspective but it was interesting to note that players themselves identified there could be improvements so we have worked on those in the weeks leading up to this fixture. With regards the season ahead our absolute minimum is that we are competitive in every game and not patches, consistency is going to be key for us but we are happy with where we are and know we will continue to build as the season progresses.”
Kick off at Dol Wiber Newcastle Emlyn is 2,30pm and with no senior game that day the squad would love to see as many Quins supporters there as possible cheering on the boys.
During the season there will be opportunities for game and match ball sponsorship so if anyone would like to sponsor the future generation then please contact Helen Hastings on 07890671547 or Neil Evans on 07557907249. All sponsorship will be ring fenced for the development of the youth team to ensure they have the environment they need to prosper.
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