By James Docherty

WHAT a difference a year can make. When 2018 came to a close, Penarth sat ninth in Division 3A East Central, just five points off the relegation places, having won only three games, struggling with numbers for training and matches and having been beaten by the Old Pens in the annual Boxing Day fixture.

Fast forward to today and Penarth sit fifth in the League, are regularly getting 30 players to training, have a successful Second XV and, due to the unavailability of the Old Pens, managed to field 53 players for an inter-club match on Boxing Day in front of a crowd of hundreds.

Whilst the 1st XV are far from the finished article progress has been steady but for the club as a whole the difference is staggering.

The first team squad has dramatically reduced in average age over the last year with the likes of Spencer Robinson, Harry Wood, George Roberts and Harry Williams cementing their positions in the starting XV whilst the emergence of talent from the youth team for the 2019/20 season has seen Alex Shore, Sam Davies, Hugh Leach, Thaine Baker and Geraint Williams provide an injection of youthful exuberance in the side.

In the first game of 2019 the average age of the Penarth team was 31 years old, in the last it was barely 23!

2019 saw the club play 20 league fixtures winning 13 and losing seven, which is a solid if unspectacular return, but there is very much a feel of this being the start of something better to come.

Club captain Rhys Morgan, who at 31 is now one of the elder statesmen of the squad, is looking forward to the year ahead.

He said: “We are at an exciting and important time in the club’s development, we have a young squad that is full of talent that is only going to improve with time.

“In the remainder of this season we just need to find a bit more consistency in our performances to ensure that we finish comfortably in the top half of the table, this will provide us with a solid platform to push on next season and be challenging for promotion and a good cup run.”

Without doubt the biggest change in 2019 has been the re-emergence of the Athletic XV which, far from being just a bit of social rugby for those older players no longer willing or able to play 1st XV rugby, has provided regular rugby for those with 1st team ambitions and experienced players looking for game time and at the same time providing a vital pathway back into rugby for many players who had previously given the game up.

The benefit to the club has been incalculable as it has had the knock on effect of meaning training is well attended and highly competitive and that the social side of the club is thriving, evidence of which can be seen not only in the Boxing Day turnout but also in the fact that 30 players turned out for travelling nativity in the run up to Christmas.

As well as the turn around in fortunes on the pitch it has been exciting time for the club off the field with the return of the Barbarians to Penarth RFC for an open training session in a November being a huge coup. The sight of hundreds of school children flocking to the club in terrible weather just to see the Baa-baas training was an undoubted highlight of the year.

With 13 games left to play in the league there is all to play for in the coming months and a top four finish is clearly in the sights of players, coaches and supporters at the Athletic Field, but one thing is clear and that is that the club believes that 2020 will be another hugely positive one for Penarth RFC.