After historic highs, fight of their lives to
THEY are Welsh rugby royalty, a club with a tradition and pedigree to match any in the world game, who became the first non-international team to defeat the three southern hemisphere superpowers of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.
When Swansea RFC downed the All Blacks at St Helen’s in 1935, they did so with a pair of schoolboys controlling matters in Haydn Tanner and Willie Davies: “Half-back gods”, one history of the club styles them.
After the Gowerton Grammar School sixth formers had orchestrated the 11-3 home win, All Blacks captain Jack Manchester told the travelling Kiwi press: “Tell them back home we lost, but, please, don’t tell them that we were beaten by a pair of schoolboys.”
That’s history.
It matters and the great thing about the All Whites is that so many at the club are conscious of it.
The club of Davies, Tanner, David Richards, Simon Davies, Mark Titley, Robert Jones, Tony Clement, Arwel Thomas, Paul Moriarty and Colin Charvis have traditionally played in a certain way, with swagger and style. And they are a class act off the field as well, never more so than when they were relegated to the Championship in 2014.
In their darkest hour the famous All Whites were operating at the very top of their game.
They spanked Neath 26-0 in the final round of matches, while their then chairman Phil Llewellyn refused to blame anyone for the club’s plight. And the first tweet the Whites posted afterwards was to Aberavon, congratulating them on retaining their place in the Premiership.
But here’s the thing: all that history isn’t going to count for anything as the club head into what is shaping up to be one of the most significant seasons since their inception back in 1874.
At least four clubs will be relegated from the Welsh Premiership, maybe five. There are suggestions, too, that the new Under-23 competition for the professional sides, provisionally billed as the Celtic Cup, will run alongside the Welsh semi-pro league during September and October, potentially denying clubs some of their best youngsters at a key stage of proceedings.
And for those who place a heavy emphasis on youth, that could spell trouble.
You can read full details of the planned changes coming to Welsh rugby this season, here.
“Nothing has been confirmed yet, but if the Under-23 competition clashes with the first six or seven rounds of the Premiership that could impact massively on us,” says Swansea’s managing director Keith Colclough.
“We have been working with the Ospreys since the inception of regional rugby and doing all we can to ensure young players come through into the regional game. Development has been key.
“But there’s a chance now that the best youngsters could be beyond clubs at important points of the season.
“Others carry more experience in their ranks and have bigger budgets.
“I’m not quite sure, anyway, why this new competition is starting during a season that will see at least four >
clubs relegated from the Premiership.”
What about all that tradition? Does it count for anything? “History will not keep anyone up,” says Colclough, who played 424 times for the club between 1978 and 1998 and will forever be remember as the anchor of the scrum that destroyed world champions Australia in 1992.
“It will be down to the players and the coaches, the supporters and those running things behind the scenes.
“We are proud of our history, but Swansea’s history will play no part in next season.” Colclough continues: “Clubs such as Llanelli and Bridgend, who have placed their faith in youth, are in the same position, and if we are not careful Welsh rugby could see a number of great clubs slipping out of the top level of the club game i n on that kind of money. There are also some good sides in there, and many of them saw us as a scalp, particularly in our first season at the lower level.
“We actually did well to win promotion the next year.
“At the moment there’s too much money in the lower leagues.
“We have tried to attract players but we have not always been able to do so. The players we have brought in all want to play for the jersey. It’s not about money for them.
“That said, we have no right to be at the top. It is not about Swansea feeling entitled or anything of the sort.
“You have to earn the right to operate at the top level, and that is what we intend to do in the coming season.
“When we were relegated a few years ago, we didn’t moan. We conducted ourselves professionally and with dignity. We always try to make the best of the cards we are dealt.