Ernie Jones (captain 1949/50)

The following was taken from an article by the club’s  Captain  in 1949/50 season and later former President Ernie Jones, on the club’s first season

The Second World War had just ended in 1945 and peacetime activities were slowly being resumed.  A small number of old boys had started to revive the West Mon Old Boys Association, which had been very active in the pre war years.

In the 1947, an old boy of the school Ken Jones, had gained the first of what was to be over fifty Welsh caps and in the summer of 1949 the Association decided to hold a presentation evening in “Kenos” honour.

A jovial reunion of Old Boys was present at the function in the Clarence Hotel, Pontypool.  Enjoying a chat and a drink after the formalities had concluded was Gilbert Garnet, the sport master at West Mon School, Geoff Hurst, Max Horton and Ernie Jones.  Talking rugby, Geoff came up with the idea “why not start an old boys rugby team?”

He suggested that an inaugural game should be held and it was decided to arrange for an Old Boys representative XV to play against the “old enemies” Newport High School Old Boys.

The game was arranged for 20th September 1949 in Pontypool Park and both sides were composed of players drawn entirely from 1st and 2nd class clubs.  The kit was supplied by Noel Green who was the manager of Fussells Sports, whilst Herbert Tibbs of Fowlers Outfitters, arranged for the school badge to be sewn onto the jerseys.

The game was played between two strong sides that threw the ball about with delightful freedom and greatly pleased a large crowd

The report in the Free Press at the time stated

“Geoff Hurst the West Mon OB captain, who got the side together and organised the game, should be well satisfied with its success, and on this showing there should be no lack of support for the Old Boys in subsequent games..”

The game was won by Newport HSOB by 21 points to 11.  For West Mon OB, Ken Jones (Wales and Newport) scored two tries, Hirst converted one and Max Horton kicked a penalty goal.

A collection at the game raised £45, which was enough to pay for the team’s royal blue jerseys and also to give the West Mon Old Boys Association rugby section a small balance at the bank.

The West Mon Old Boys team that took the field that day was E Jones (Abertillery), B Edwards (Pontpool), K J Jones (Newport), H R C Wilcox (Aberystwyth University), R J Kennedy (Pontnewydd), M Horton (Pontypool), P Head (Pontynewydd), C T Brown (Pontynewydd),  G Hirst (Pontypool), L E T Jones (Newport), A Fynn (Pontypool), D Nicholas (London Universities), G Bevan, R Parry (Pontypool U), A Jayne (Abertillery)

Following the success of this game, a full fixture list was arranged for the remainder of the season with games against St Julians Old Boys, Cardiff High School Old Boys , St Albans and BNS.  From the very start home games were played at the Skew Fields with the players using the changing facilities at West Mon School . 

It is unclear whom the first official fixture was against although press reports at the time recorded the club winning three of its first six games including a fine away win against Talywain Athletic who were beaten by 8 points to 3.  The victory was attributed to the speed of the visitor’s threequarter line which included an interception try by Bill Richards that was converted by full back and captain Ernie Jones.
 
However the Old Boys were well beaten at Talywain on Christmas Eve when Dai Davies, who was to become a big stalwart of the club, played his first game.  The club played Usk RFC on Boxing Day and on the field that day were twenty former pupils from the West Mon School, the fifteen that played for the Old Boys and a further five who represented the home side.  The Old Boys were beaten by 26 points to 14, with tries for the visitors scored by wingers Tuck and Lewis, Mac Harris with one conversion and a penalty goal from Ernie Jones.

The remainder of the first season was a mixture of close defeats and a struggle to attract players although the playing strength of the club always improved when students returned from their college studies during vacations.
Indeed the problems of fielding a side was well remembered by Ernie Jones, captain of the time, who recalled how invariably the team would have nine or so players on the morning of a match and how this was overcome.

“Dai Davies would come down from his home at Varteg to pick me up in his car on Saturday morning and armed with a list of addresses of Old Boys who were eligible to play, we would make a start of calling on them.  We never failed to make a full fifteen for any game.  Without Dai the club would surely have folded, as was the help that was given from the school which was vitally important.”

It should also be remembered that only former pupils of West Mon School were eligible to play for the Old Boys and this continued for many years until the rule was relaxed to allow players other than former West Mon pupils to play for the club.

Towards the end of the season a return fixture was arranged against Newport HSOB on 16th March 1950 and was played at the Rodney Parade Ground..  For this game the Old Boys had picked an even stronger team than that which had lost the fixture in September, with eight players being drawn from first class clubs.  Regrettably no record has been found of the match result.

Memories of 1989/90 season by Martin Cochrane

I started playing for West Mon Old Boys in my late teens, playing with and forming a front row with Bob and Peter Lewis. Early highlights include beating Usk 1st XV on the Skew Fields.
In that year, we were based at the Greeenaway Club and ran 1st and 2nd XV’s. Players like Steve Rodgers, Russell Williams, Ian and Steve Hopkins, Bob Shankland, Stuart Rosser, Chris Bryant, Neil Evans, Phil Jones, Daffyd Bacon, Chris Matthews and John Cavanagh immediately spring to mind.

That season we were coached by Derek Evans who went on to coach Pontypool United.
As captain, I was always keen that we would not allow ourselves to be intimidated by sides such as Forge Side and Blaenavon Quins.

I remember a game against Forge Side that year in Blaenavon where in the first minute a free for all occurred. We did not back down, narrowly losing the game but gaining their respect.
Other highlights were beating Crickhowel (who had won the Ivor Jones Cup that season)
We went on tour to Cornwall where we beat St Day (Redruth) in one of the hardest games that I had ever played, the game being abandoned after 60 minutes. Our flanker Martin Evans was sent off after 20 minutes, I was so fired up that I did not realise this until half time

.
On the whole I enjoyed my season as captain. Although we lost more games than we won, there was always competition for places due to us running two sides. I felt that we gained respect and were no longer considered a “soft” touch.

Gary Crewe Captain 1977/78

I joined the “Old Boys” following a very boozy 1976 New Year's Eve in West Mon Old Boys Club at Pontymoile when I was persuaded to play the following Saturday under the captaincy of John Burton.
Things couldn’t have started worse as we only had eleven players and the match was postponed.
At least things could only get better and by the following season at the tender age of twenty I was delighted to accept the invitation of Jeff Taylor to become his vice captain.
Unfortunately for the team, and particularly Jeff, our captain suffered a broken ankle in the first month of the season during an Ivor Jones Cup match against Usk II (which incidentally the Old Boys won by 10 points to 6. Hence yours truly took over the skippers role for the rest of the season
Despite this blow (I mean Jeff's injury, not me becoming captain), the team responded magnificently and finished with a respectable playing record of played 29 won 14 and drawing 2. This included doubles against Burnham on Sea, Penallta and St.Julians with other wins against Croesyceiliog and Cwmbran Athletic.
The quarter final of the Ivor Jones Cup saw the Old Boys entertain Hafodyrynys RFC, which because of the inclement weather at the time, was played on 19 March 78, which was a Sunday afternoon.
The game was fairly uneventful except for the fact that the Old Boys won by 13 points to 4, thanks to a try by Cyril Knott and three penalty goals by the late Robbie Payne.
In addition the game was the first, and as it turned out the last occasion that I had the pleasure of playing in the same side as Harry Vaux.
Harry, who by this time was in semi retirement, had moved to the front row and “following a case of mistaken identity” had the dubious honour of creating one final record, that of being the only Old Boys player to be sent off on the Sabbath day.

The semi final was played on a perfect evening for running rugby (or so we thought) on Tuesday 4 April at the Skew Fields against Blaenafon Forge Side,who were by far the most formidable team in the District.
Nevertheless I was quietly confident that the Old Boys could spring a surprise and I remember how pleasing it was that a full side had turned out for training on the evening before (a rare occurrence indeed)
However the game was dominated by the visitor’s forwards to such an extent that I only touched the ball on a few occasions despite playing in the fly half position.
Despite this the team defended magnificently before losing by 14-3, with Forge Side eventually winning the final at a canter.