Brothers in four-midable team spirit
PAUL and Richard Moriarty. Andy and Steve Moore. Nicky and Jamie Robinson. Aled and Nathan Brew.
Keeping rugby in the family is nothing new.
Two siblings within the same game is not a rarity, three a little more so; Scott, Craig and Gavin Quinnell an infrequent example. How about four brothers all playing in the same Welsh rugby team? You won’t find many cuttings citing that example.
But that’s exactly what happened when Rhodri, Rhys, Elis and Steffan Griffiths took to the field for Felinfoel RFC at the weekend.
The quartet from Llanelli made rugby-mad parents Eryl, who has been the club’s minute secretary for 10 years, and Fran very proud by finally running out together, in the second team.
Three of the Griffiths brothers –
Rhodri, 30, Rhys, 29, and 21-year-old Elis – have played for the club throughout their lives, but there was no under-8s team for youngest brother Steffan, now aged 18, so he joined Llanelli Wanderers before moving to Bynea, where he has enjoyed playing rugby ever since.
However, the family were keen to find a way to get the four boys in the same team before the older boys hang up their boots and the club’s 2nd XV was the perfect solution.
Dad Eryl said: “Fran and I were very proud parents to see all four boys turn out for Felinfoel, the club that has been such a big part of our lives for so long since moving from Pontyberem.
“Big thanks to Bynea who allowed us to permit Steffan, and to Nantgaredig, who gave us all a great welcome.
“We won the match, but that was secondary on the day – second XV rugby is much more about the social side of the game. Steffan has always enjoyed his time at Bynea and they have been very good to him, but he played very well on Saturday and I think he enjoyed playing with his brothers so much, he may be tempted to come back to the club one day!”
Unfortunately, mum Fran was away at the weekend and missed Saturday’s match, but if Steffan follows the well-trodden family path back to King George’s Field, there may be more family celebrations to come.
His three elder brothers have ‘Viva La Foel’ tattooed so only time will tell if he will follow suit, but each brother also has a ‘Brodyr Griff’ inking to show family comes first.
Eryl added: “Second-team rugby really does build communities. It’s a great way to bridge different age groups, experience and abilities and it is certainly enjoying a resurgence in this area since the change in WRU youth rugby age rules.
“At Felinfoel, the players who would have been playing third year of youth rugby this season have moved up into the second team, which means the seconds are now flourishing. We are seeing that in other clubs in this area too, which is great because second teams are such an important part of a club, both in terms of the transition between youth and first-team rugby and from a social point of view. We stayed at Nant for a couple of hours before going back to our clubhouse and that is important income for clubs too.”