Sunday 5th October - Match vs Fall Bay RFC

We are playing Fall Bay U8's this Sunday (5th October) at home at Underhill Park. Kick-off will be at 10:00 or as close to as we can manage, so please arrive for 9:30 for a brief training session.

Loughor were going to come along this Sunday but have now pulled out, we'll just be playing Fall Bay.

Match Report 28 Sept - Swansea Uplands

Fantastic weather on Sunday meant we had squad of 20 for training followed by the game against Swansea Uplands. Alex and Ceri demonstrated their newly acquired coaching skills (did you notice!!) which gave the squad a chance to practice their tagging and passing during the warm up.

Thanks to Jan (Will's mum) for taking notes of the game, which I'll crudely summarise... Will continued this season's unbroken record of scoring in the first few minutes. Uplands responded with three tries, even though Tal, Meg, Will and Thomas showed some great tagging. Meg just missed out on a try, which was followed by Will bringing the score to 2-3. Two further Uplands tries meant we were trailing 2-5 at half time.

Rhydian opened the scoring in the second half, and despite good tagging from Liam and Jake, Uplands landed another try. Jake then lead an excellent comeback for the pirates, by scoring the next try, which was followed up by great team defence and Jake getting good turnover ball. A good run by Will and Liam lead to Liam's try, with Rhydian's second try bringing the scores level at 6-6. Uplands managed one more try before Will tied the final score at 7-7.

Will (the coach!) brought the squad together to present this week's players of the week awards, which went to Liam for some great forward running and determination and Rhydian for making such an impact in only his second game for Mumbles. Well done boys (and girl) and sorry everyone couldn't get a mention, but there's always this Sunday against Fall Bay. Will will post more details later in the week.

Thanks to Rhydian's dad for the photos.

Pirates at the Liberty Stadium

Great excitement for the lucky ten (Will, Liam, Megan, Tal, Jake, Thomas, Tomasz, Cai, Elias and Max) who took to the pitch hot on the heels of the Ospreys at half time. Will burned up the pitch in the first seconds of the game to score against the competition - Bridgend South. Following an equaliser, Liam scored in the far corner and Bridgend managed to get one back to finish the game at two all. Tomasz proved his 'player of the week award' by delivering some excellent tagging, along with Meg, Tal, Max and Jake. Strong running and passing by Thomas, Elias and Cai resulted in a memorable day for the team.

Thanks to the families and supporters who came to cheer the team along. Hope you've all got copies of the programme which lists the team's names - any photos for the blog gratefully received!

2 spare tickets

We have 2 spare tickets for the Ospreys game, £10 each, please ring Alex 402057 if wanted.

photos from dunvant game

Thanks to ConnorO's dad for some great action shots!

Ospreys v Ulster Team Meeting Time 16:30

Can the team of ten meet at Frankie & Bennys at 1630 changed and in track suits to collect tickets and enter together (team only) through the player's tunnel. Please ring Alex (402057/07814717334) to confirm as soon as possible.

Ospreys vs Ulster Saturday 27th September

We are really excited to be invited at short notice to field a team to play tag at half time in this Saturday's Ospreys game against Ulster. The downside is we are limited to 10 players, although we are likely to get another opportunity later in the season. I know there will be disappointment for those we cant take this time and we decided to offer first choice to those who have been with us the longest and put in the most appearances through the cold winter! The team list is: Will Mellowship, Elias Ash, Liam Taylor, Megan Ferguson, Tomasz Bielak, Jake Chase, Cai B-L, Max Phillips, Thom Truscot and Tal Edwards. Tickets will be at reduced cost if we get enough supporters also! Kick off is 17.30pm. See everyone Sunday for our home game against Uplands.

Sunday 28th September - Match vs Uplands RFC

The matches against Dunvant and Skewen were a great start to the season, well done. The next match is on Sunday 28th September against Uplands RFC. The match will be at HOME at Underhill Park. We will meet at 9:30 for a training and warm-up session and will aim for a kick-off between 10:00 and 10:15 as soon as the U7's have finished.

Match Report, Dunvant 21 Sept

Great turnout for the pirates at their first games of the 2008/9 season. Rob and Mark clearly did a excellent motivational job in warming up the squad (or was it Alex's promise of the inaugural player of the week awards for the best taggers?) as the results were two wins against Dunvant and Skewen.

There was no stopping Will who scored the first of a few tries against Dunvant in the opening seconds of the game. Jake and Thomas also touched down with some amazing running. Congratulations to ConnorO, Rhydian, Ryan, ConnorM and Alex, who made their debut performances for Mumbles - especially Ryan who almost scored a try. I was good to see Elias, Tomasz, Cai, Max, Tal, Ethan and Josh back in action this season who all showed they'd been listening to the coaches with great tagging and some good runs.

At the end of the game Alex highlighted some of the positives - no forward passes, no running into touch and winning(!!), but a bit of work on holding the ball with two hands. Thomas and Tomasz were the first recipients of the player of the week awards for their tagging - congratulations, and don't forget to bring them back next week....

Keep your eye on the blog towards the end of the week for an update on Sunday's action - currently scheduled for a HOME game against Swansea Uplands.

Sunday 21st September - Dunvant

Our first match of the new season will be on Sunday 21st September away at Dunvant RFC. We will meet at Dunvant at 10:30 for a half hour warm-up/training session for an 11:00 kick-off. We'll play three 10 minutes periods, which given the numbers turning up this season, should mean that everyone will get a good run out.

Hot dogs and warm coffee will be available.

Directions and a map to the club can be found at Dunvant RFC

Directions are also given on the Crusaders Web Site, HERE.

Training Sunday 14th September

The good weather brought an excellent turn-out and a special welcome to all the new players. Exercises focused again on keeping possession when tagged, watching out for the touchline and keeping the line in defence. Some fine running and tagging.

Next week Waunarlwydd has been unable to raise a team so we are looking for a replacement. If not we will have a mini -match /tournament amoungst ourselves to get match practice. The under 7's have laid down a challenge to our new members to form a team for their first match!

Sunday will also see us introducing our two player of the week awards.

Training Sunday 7th Sepember

A great turn out for the start of the season and a very positive and productive session. Special thanks to the new coaching team of Ceri, Mike, Mark and Chris for all their efforts. The focus of today's training was to introduce the importance of retaining possession especially after being tagged. Remember CATCH, RUN, TAG, PASS OR STOP!
Same time, same place next week.