Team to face London Welsh

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Ebbw Vale’s team to take on English Championship side London Welsh at Eugene Cross Park on Friday night (kick off at 7:30) has been announced.

Dan Haymond; Owen Williams, Jordan Howells, Dominic Franchi, David Williams; Dai Langdon, Tom Edwards; Ross Jones, Mathew Williams, Gethin Robinson; Damien Hudd (capt), Joe Bartlett; Rhys Clarke, Ronny Kynes, Ethan Doyle.

Replacements from the rest of the squad.

Leading Premiership club Ebbw Vale RFC are delighted to announce their season long support of Mental Health charity, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent Mind.

The club will carry the charity’s logo on the front of its home and away shirt, advertising on its website and in its match day programme. In addition to this the club will support fund raising initiatives via collections and through the provision of free international tickets for use by Mind locally. Finally, the club will also provide a number of free season tickets for use by the charity.

Sheree Williams (representing Mind) was delighted when approached by the Steelmen with the idea of promoting the charity’s work in the community.

The mission for Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent Mind is to campaign to improve service, raise awareness and promote education and understanding of mental health and wellbeing with a particular emphasis on mens mental health. The statistics on male suicide are deeply concerning both nationally and within our local communities. The involvement of a high profile rugby club will assist us in our mission and we are looking forward to a successful partnership with Ebbw Vale RFC in the coming season.

Jon Jones Chairman of Ebbw Vale RFC commented,

When the opportunity arose for us to support a local charity, the aim was to look for an organisation that would benefit from raising awareness within our community. We felt that Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent Mind needed this, to support the valuable work it does. Male mental health still has a stigma and machismo attached to it that often prevents a person seeking the help they need. If we can help remove these issues and raise awareness in the coming year, it will be as significant as anything we achieve on the field of play. We look forward to working with the charity in the coming months.

MIND launch

(Image courtesy of ncr photography.)

Applications are invited from season ticket holders for tickets for the forthcoming Six Nations tournament to be played in February/March 2016

To apply, please use the link to ‘International Tickets‘ on this website. Please quote your season ticket number as shown on the reverse of this season’s (2015 – 2016) season. If you haven’t yet got your new season ticket you can still request tickets and when you collect the ticket state that you have applied for 6 Nations tickets.

Applications must be received by 4th September 2015.

For the first time since St David’s Day, 1969, London Welsh visit Eugene Cross Park this Friday 28th August, for a friendly fixture against the Steelmen, kicking off at 7:30pm. This is our last pre-season friendly and should be a great game; don’t forget London Welsh were in the English Premiership last season so it will a real test for our team who would appreciate your vocal support.

Entry costs will be:
Adults £10
Concessions £7
Season ticket holders free

If you haven’t bought or collected your season ticket yet you can do this on Thursday 27th between 6pm and 7pm from the clubhouse. If you prefer to wait until Friday, season tickets will available to buy or collect outside the main gate before the match

The Ebbw squad for Saturday’s friendly fixture at Pontypool is as follows:

15 Daniel Haymond
14 Owen Williams
13 Jordan Howells
12 Dominic Franchi
11 David Williams
10 David Langdon
9 Thomas Edwards

1 Ian George
2 Joseph Franchi
3 Keagan Bale
4 Joseph Bartlett
5 Rhys Clarke
6 Luke Crocker
7 Ronny Kynes
8 Harrison Keddie
Subs.
Ross Jones
Rhys Buckley
Luke Leddington
Ethan Doyle
Ben Papp
Cameron Regan
Carl Lewis
Iain Smerdon
Ryan Gardiner

Ashley Sweet has withdrawn as he was due to have an operation to remove his appendix. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Luke Crocker, who joined from champions Pontypridd in the close season, makes a first start for the Steelmen as he returns from Dragons 7s duty, along with Owen Williams and Harri Keddie.

Ebbw Vale RFC have been overwhelmed by the response of the local community to their requests for children to be mascots at their home games next season.

Within 24 hours of releasing the request on the club website and through social media, every game has been allocated with two mascots being selected for each match.

Mascots at each of the games will receive:

A framed picture taken with the club captain
A replica shirt (which they will keep as a memento)
A club beanie hat
A match day programme which will include their name and picture.

There will be no cost to the families of the mascots.

A club spokesperson said, “We are looking at ways to improve our community links all the time. These children are the future of this club both on and off the field and we are delighted that there has been such a rapid response from parents and families for their children to be involved. I’m sure that they all will enjoy the experience of leading the Steelmen onto the field this year.”

All families will be contacted about their game allocation on Sunday 16th August.

Head Coach Nigel Davies has announced his first match day squad as Ebbw head off to Moseley on Saturday afternoon.

Dan Haymond, Steffan Jones, Patric Lewis, Jordan Howells, Ryan Gardiner; Dai Langdon, Chris Thomas; Ross Jones, Mathew Williams, Gethin Robinson; Damien Hudd (capt), Ashley Sweet; Rhys Clarke, Cameron Regan, Ethan Doyle.

Bench: Keagan Bale, Ian George, Joe Franchi, Luke Leddington, Joe Bartlett, James Hall, Tom Edwards, Dominic Franchi, David Williams, Ronny Kynes.

There are club debut starts for Steffan Jones, Patric Lewis of the Dragons Academy, Ryan Gardiner and Ethan Doyle. Looking to make debuts from the bench will be James Hall, David Williams and Dominic Franchi – whose twin Joe is also keen to get back into full action following the completion of his university studies.

Returning former players, familiar to Steelmen supporters, are Ian George and Tom Edwards.

The game kicks off at 3pm

It’s not all about the new boys on EVRFC TV; this time, one of the senior players, Ross Jones, shares his thoughts about pre-season, the forthcoming friendlies and the importance of starting the league season well.

You can watch Ross’s video here.

EVRFC team mascots for the season 2015/16

With the new season only a few weeks away EVRFC are looking for children (under 16) to be mascots at games for the upcoming season at Eugene Cross Park.

Children chosen will receive:
A framed A4 photograph taken with the team captain
A replica shirt to wear as mascot (and keep as a memento of their day)
An EVRFC beanie hat
A match day programme

If you are interested in your child, grandchild, niece or nephew being a mascot at one of the games at ECP next season, have a look at out fixture list, decide on the game you would like them to be mascot at and then email:

ebbwaddicts@mail.com

with the following details:

Your name
Child’s name
Contact phone number
Preferred Game or Games

You will receive a confirmation email and be contacted by either Andrew Phillips (Media/Club Safeguarding Officer) or Ian James (Club Secretary)

This time it’s not so much a new player as someone returning to the club. Loose head prop Ian George was an integral element in the Ebbw team during the reign of Alex Codling and is renowned in Wales and beyond for his prowess as a scrummager and his work rate around the field. Find out how pre-season is going and what Ian is looking forward to, now that he’s back with the Steelmen.

EVRFC TV have been interviewing our new arrivals.

This time it’s your chance to find out a little more about centre Dominic ‘Dom’ Franchi, who has joined his hometown club from Newport.

You can see the interview here.