Gowerton clinch Two West title

GOWERTON RFC WINS SWALEC DIVISION 2 TITLE TO SECURE PROMOTION

Gowerton RFC has lifted the SSE SWALEC Division 2 West trophy at home, celebrating its place at the top of the league.

The Gowerton league win was sealed on Saturday 11 April in a 9-7 victory against Penlan RFC, sealing the club’s third promotion in three years. The team has risen through the ranks of the SWALEC League from Division 5 after another successful season. The match was hard fought with Gowerton notching up three penalties against a penalty try to Penlan who missed two further penalties.

The club has now carried off the title with 93 points to date, making them unreachable by Llanelli Wanderers who remain second in the table. Gowerton has won all but one of their league games played this season so far. With two matches remaining, they are currently unbeaten at home for three years.

Gowerton Club Captain, Tom Gronow, aged 34, said: “A lot of hard work has gone in to making this season a success. The boys and the club have done themselves proud. We were in the bottom league for years and now we’re doing so well, I’m very proud of the boys and everyone behind the scenes. The support from the village has been fantastic. Lots of former players and people in the community turned up to watch us – including my father John who was captain back in 1972 so he was really happy for us too. We’re looking forward to the future. We take every match as it comes and our quietly confident that we’ll do okay but we do our talking on the field.”

But it hasn’t been all plain sailing for the club, who were forced to replace outside half Robert John after he damaged his anterior cruciate ligament halfway through the season. Luckily, the team were able to replace him with two younger players who stepped up from the youth side and helped bring the side to victory. 

Gowerton Club Secretary Richard Jenkins said: “We have three sets of brothers all playing for us including Craig and Rhys Thomas, Ben and Jonny Rees and twins Robert and Gareth John - so we’re definitely a close-knit club. The majority of the current team have progressed from the youth division which goes to show that the club structure is working for us.”

The club’s success has been attributed to its strong youth section which is made of up 200 players including an U7s side. The U15s and U16s will both compete in the Ospreys Cup Final later this month.

WRU Board Member Brian Fowler, who presented the SSE SWALEC Division 2 West trophy, said: “Gowerton has done fantastically well this season. They have a strong youth side that has come through over the past two to three years and it’s great to see the club being promoted yet again. A well-deserved promotion which is the culmination of the efforts put in by all the players this season.”

SSE SWALEC is the national community partner of the Welsh Rugby Union and sponsors both the SSE SWALEC Leagues and SSE SWALEC Cup, Plate and Bowl competitions. 

Colin Banks, Acting Head of Sponsorship at SSE SWALEC, added: “Our strong partnership with the WRU and its clubs goes back a number of years and we’re very pleased to be doing more for grassroots rugby in Wales through our sponsorship of the SSE SWALEC Leagues. It has been another strong season for Welsh rugby as a whole and we have seen some impressive performances at club level. Many congratulations to Gowerton on claiming the title.”