Llanhilleth Rugby Football Club is a rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 team from the village of Llanhilleth

Llanhilleth

Llanhilleth is a village on the A467 road between Ebbw Vale and Crumlin in Blaenau Gwent, Wales.Two large mounds in the field behind the Carpenter’s Arms are the remains of the medieval Llanhilleth castle which originally had two large, stone-built towers....

 in Blaenau Gwent

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council is the governing body for Blaenau Gwent, one of the Principal Areas of Wales.- Current composition :By-Election's:* A by-election was held to fill a vacancy in the Tredegar Central & West ward.LAB Hold...

, Wales. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union

Welsh Rugby Union

The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board.The union's patron is Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandson Prince William of Wales became the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union as of February 2007.-History:The roots of the...

 and is a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons

Newport Gwent Dragons

Newport Gwent Dragons are one of the four professional Rugby Union regional teams in Wales. They are jointly owned by Newport RFC and the Welsh Rugby Union and play all their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12, the Anglo-Welsh Cup and the Heineken Cup...

.

Early history

Although rugby was known to have been played in Llanhilleth before the 1890s it is generally accepted that the team that would become Llanhilleth RFC first played club rugby in 1894. This team was called the Grasshoppers and was formed by members of the local male voice choir. After the First World War the club played under the name 'The All Blacks' and achieved some local success including winning the Cyrus Davies Cup on two occasions. Like most Welsh clubs, Llanhilleth disbanded during the Second World War but reformed under its present name on April 4th 1946 and that season won the Cyrus Davies Cup for a third time.

Club colours

The club presently play in Black and Blue, a strip that was chosen by accident after World War II. With rationing still in force the club asked residents to donate clothing rations to buy a new kit for the team. With enough rations collected team residents travelled to Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

 to buy a new strip, but when they arrived at the Welsh Sports shop in the capital there was only one full rugby jersey kit available, a Cardiff RFC

Cardiff RFC

Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, but soon relocated to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since...

 kit that had not been collected. The kit was bought and similar to Llanharan RFC

Llanharan RFC

Llanharn Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Llanharan, South Wales. Llanharan RFC were formally established in 1891-92 when Llanharan was little more than an agricultural hamlet. The earliest photograph on the club house wall is dated 1898...

the team now wear Black and Blue, the colours of Cardiff.