‘YOGI BACH’ PLAYS GAME 600
WHEN Ioan Jones made d his debut for Trimsaran, John Major was Prime Minister and Josh Adams, Tomos Williams and Aaron Wainwright hadn’t even been born.
Some 25 years on, the scrumhalf known as “Yogi Bach” is still going strong and has just played his 600th game for the West Wales club, which the great Jonathan Davies famously started out with.
He reached that momentous milestone yesterday afternoon when Trimsaran travelled to Cefneithin for a Division 3 West B clash.
It’s a remarkable achievement and a testament to his great loyalty and love for the Gwendraeth Valley club.
So when did it all begin?
“I know I was on the bench against Cwmgors, but I can’t remember getting on in that game,” he said.
“But I do remember Furnace away was my first league game for the club when I was 17. That would have been in the 1994-95 season.
“I actually started at outside-half that day. We won 70-odd points and I did have two tries.
“I went on to play for Llanelli Youth then because we didn’t have a Youth side ourselves.
“But the following year I came back to Trimsaran and it’s gone from there. I was living at home, and being young and going out with the boys, I decided to stay in Trimsaran and play with my mates there. And 25 years later, I am still here!”
Apart from a brief stint with Aberavon around 2001, Jones has been the ultimate one-club man.
So what’s kept him at Trimsaran, who he captained for some six seasons?
“It’s just a homely club,” he explained. “It’s obviously my village club. My father played there and I remember growing up watching him play.
“The club is an integral part of the village and the place to go.
“My mates were playing there, the boys I worked with played there and d it’s just gone from there.
“The people at the club have been so wonderful.”
Jones, a bricklayer by trade, is now 42. So what does he put his longevity down to?
“I’ve been quite lucky on the injury front,” he says. “I’ve broken my wrist and had a couple of rib injuries, but nothing major like an arm or a leg or ligaments.
“I keep training I suppose. It’s very rare I miss training. As you get older, you need to train just to keep up, because the youngsters are getting bigger these days.
“And I do still enjoy it.
“My wife, Catherine, has been great to be fair. I train twice a week and play on a Saturday.
“Not many wives would put up with that at my age, especially as we’ve got two young boys, Cai and Elis, who are five and three. Catherine and the boys come and watch and support me. They have been great fair play to them. They have been wonderful.”
Having played the vast majority of his 600 games at scrum-half, one wonders which No.9 he would he liken himself to in style.
“Obviously you’d like to think you are like Gareth Edwards!” he quips in reply. “I would probably say I am maybe a bit like Gareth Davies. I was quite quick... not so much any more!
“But that sort of dap, with the sniping, and quite strong from working in the building trade.”
Ask him how many tries he has scored for the club down the years and he struggles to remember,