Monthly Archives: March 2026
The Steelmen finally return to Super Rygbi Cymru action against Newport RFC today with the first game at the CiNER Glass Community Stadium of 2026. The game will once again see the Steelmen defend the SRC Challengers Shield.
Jason Strange makes a number of changes to the Steelmen squad with Ethan Phillips returning at centre and Ben Main starting in the back row . Joe Franchi and Luke Garrett come into the front row with Joe captaining the team. On the bench Adam Court returns with Rory Harries and Joe Rees-Weldon also coming into the squad.
The match also sees Ryan Jenkins passing 50 appearances for the Steelmen.
The full squad is al follows:
15 Dylan Edwards 14 Morgan Rees 13 Ethan Phillips 12 Dom Franchi 11 Dafydd Thomas 10 Tom Price 9 Jon Evans
1 Luke Garrett 2 Joe Franchi (c) 3 Morgan Bosanko 4 Dylan Bartlett 5 Curtis Gregory 6 Ben Main 7 Sion Parry 8 Ryan Jenkins
REPLACEMENTS
16 Ieuan Morris 17 Morgan Williams 18 Adam Court 19 Alfred Bateman Lloyd 20 Joe Rees-Weldon 21 Rory Harries 22 Cam Davies 23 Morgan Richards
Match Information
Ebbw Vale RFC v Newport RFC
Saturday 21st March
CiNER GLASS Community Stadium
Kick Off 2.30pm
Ticket Information
Tickets for the match can be purchased at the following link: Ebbw Vale RFC v Newport RFC
Full Price: £15
Concession: £10
Tickets can be purchased at the gate on the day (Cash or Card can be used)
As we prepare to return to Super Rygbi Cymru action against Newport RFC on Saturday, the Steelmen spoke with Head Coach Jason Strange on the season so far…
“First of all, we would like to welcome new players Tom Price and Dylan Burrows to the club, we’re looking forward to seeing them become part of the group.
For us, it has been another excellent season as part of our continued journey. We currently sit top in the SRC league and remain unbeaten at home in the league for the past 18 months. The attitude , commitment and mentality of the squad has once again been outstanding this season.
We’ve had several key players sidelined with injuries recently, but we won’t use that as an excuse — it only brings us closer together as a team.
I’m proud that we’ve stayed true to our history and reputation as a club. Winning is vital — but not at the cost of losing our club or ground. We stick to the rules, we do not exceed the salary cap, and we do not compromise our principles for short-term gain. We firmly believe success should always be achieved the right way.
The league will always remain our priority as a club. It represents the true test of consistency over a full season, and we remain fully focused on finishing the campaign strongly while continuing to build in a sustainable and responsible way.
While we respect all competitions, the SRC cup was not our primary focus this season. We believe it presents an opportunity for review to ensure it works as effectively as possible for all clubs moving forward.
The SRC league delivered a strong and consistent product up until Christmas, with regular fixtures and a high standard of competition. In recent months that momentum has been more difficult to maintain, and we believe constructive discussions are needed about how the competition can continue to improve going forward.
We are really looking forward to restarting the league campaign over the coming weeks and continuing the momentum we have built so far this season.
Thanks for your continued support. Once again it has been outstanding this season and is really appreciated by the team.”
You may have noticed a new name on the team sheet for the recent semi-final against Newport RFC.
We would like to welcome to the Steelmen, outside half Tom Price, who signs from Bedford Blues.
Tom began his rugby at Cleve RFC before progressing to be part of the Bristol Bears Academy. Tom then played for the likes of Chinnor and Hartpury University before moving to Australia to play for Gordon in South Sydney in the Shute Shield. Last season, Tom played for Biella Rugby in Italy helping the side to win promotion into the Serie A division for the first time in the club’s history. He returned to the UK to sign for Bedford Blues over the summer.
We are excited to welcome Tom to the Steelmen for the rest of the Super Rygbi Cymru season…
Also, signing for Ebbw Vale is Dylan Burrows, who signs from Bridgend Ravens.
Dylan, who can play in both the second and back row, is a product of Tonyrefail RFC, captaining their youth side before going onto play for the senior team.
Dylan made his debut for Bridgend against Newport RFC in the second row alongside a certain Jack Pope before signing permanently at the start of the 2023/24 season.
Welcome to the Steelmen, Dylan!
Club Statement
SRC Cup Semi Final v Newport RFC
On behalf of the Board of Ebbw Vale RFC, I would like to take the opportunity to explain to our members, sponsors and wider community the reasons for the confusion around the above game. The date for Semi Finals of the Cup and Plate has been in the calendar from July 2025. With Newport RFC topping their pool, the fixture would be played at their home pitch on Saturday 28th February at 2.30pm.
On Monday 23rd February, Ebbw Vale RFC were informed that there was to be a change of date and venue, to Sunday 1st March, with the game taking place at Rodney Parade.
The rational given was that Newport City were playing at Spytty Park on Sunday and the posts could not be changed over in time. At no point was it explained why this is such an issue, other than a vague comment that there is no one available to carry out the work. As a club Ebbw Vale RFC have a great deal of experience in carrying out this task and are surprised at the claim it could not be done in 24 hours.
We informed Newport that we could not meet this expectation due to player availability with the front row being the major issue. At this point Newport RFC referred the issue to the WRU. Unfortunately, the Rules and Regulations allow the home club to choose a day and suitable venue regardless of the opinion of the away team.
On Tuesday 24th February, we were made aware by a member of the WRU Community Game Board that Newport had consulted with them on the Rules and Regulations. Later that day, we found out that the game had been moved to Sunday 1st March and would now be played at Rodney Parade, not via a conversation with Newport or the WRU, but via an announcement on Newport social media channels. Ebbw Vale asked the WRU to consider the mitigating circumstances and appeal to Newport to reconsider. This appeal was unsuccessful. As a club, we have spent most of this week trying to deal with player availability issues which has ended in several of our players having to change work commitments at short notice, which is not easy to do in today’s work environment.
We waited until the final decisions were reached before publicising the change of date or venue as that is the professional way to manage such situations.
As a board, we are mere custodians of community institutions that rugby clubs are and as a board at Ebbw Vale I would like to reassure you that we will never indulge in such behaviour and will manage the club with WRU key core values, respect and sportsmanship in all circumstances – something that Newport have categorically not done on this occasion.
As a club we will make no further comment on this issue and our attention now turns to this afternoon’s game.
Jon Jones
Director on Behalf of the Board
Ebbw Vale RFC