Pontardawe 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...

 club based in Pontardawe

Pontardawe

Pontardawe is a town of some 5,000 inhabitants in the Swansea Valley in south Wales...

, a small town in the valley of the River Tawe

River Tawe

The River Tawe is a river in South Wales. It flows in a principally south-westerly direction for some from its source below Moel Feity in the Old Red Sandstone hills of the western Brecon Beacons to the Bristol Channel at Swansea. Its main tributaries are the right bank Upper and Lower Clydach...

 in Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

.

The club has a hugely successful junior section which provides age group rugby with fully qualified coaches from 7 through to 16 and for the season 2011 - 2012, will for the first time field two youth teams.

The senior team attained fourth place in Swalec League 4 south West.

The nucleus of the "Ponty" team are youngsters. The coach is Phil Beynon and Team Manager is Kevin Morte.

Over the years Pontardawe RFC has produced a number of first-class rugby players and coaches. In 2007 they celebrated their 125th year of being a 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...

 member club.

In May 2006 Pontardawe RFC were one of the 13 'Rebel' clubs who brought a vote of no confidence against 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...

, which centered around financing and the handling of former coach Mike Ruddock

Mike Ruddock

Mike Ruddock, OBE is a Welsh rugby union coach, currently coach of the Ireland Under-20 Rugby Union Team and Lansdowne FC . Ruddock was the coach of the Worcester Warriors until his resignation on 28 April 2010 following their relegation from the Guinness Premiership...

's departure. The vote failed heavily with only 20 votes for the motion and over 300 against.

Past notable players

James Griffiths (1 cap)Welsh Youth (15 caps) Wales u 21's (5 caps) Wales "A" (4 caps) Phil Hopkins

Phil Hopkins

Phil Hopkins was a Welsh international rugby union wing who played club rugby for Swansea Rugby Football Club...

 (4 caps) Percy Lloyd

Percy Lloyd

David Percy Marmaduke Lloyd was a Welsh international rugby union wing who played club rugby for Llanelli. Lloyd played for Wales on four occasions during the 1890 and 1891 Home Nations Championships.- Rugby career :...

(4 caps)