Pontypridd U9’s @ PONTYPRIDD TOURNAMENT 4th MAY 2008 
Sardis road saw the grand finale to Ponty’s long, hard but immensely satisfying and successful season for an Under 9’s team that had prevailed through thick and thin, through rain, wind, sleet, and the occasional sunshine!
The supporters were hoping the ‘House of Pain’ could inspire their team to one last heroic effort and provide the icing on a very tasty cake! For the players this would be their fourth tournament in as many weeks, and whilst there was a certain carnival feeling to the proceedings, you could sense both the players and supporters were looking forward to a few months of well earned rest and relaxation. Pontypridd 20 Treorchy 0 The first opponents on a warm but drizzling morning were Treorchy, whom Ponty have played and beaten this season already. The team as ever were full of confidence, the supporters, however, a little worried. Traditionally the boys start tournaments quite slowly, and the last match between these two sides, saw Ponty beat their opponents by a single try, scored two minutes before the final whistle. The Treorchy team are well coached and have a hard physical style, this would be a strong test to start with, a chance to shake off some cobwebs, to prepare them for the rest of the tournament…or… a potential defeat and the end of their tournament before it even started! Even after a whole season, we still have not learnt to trust the players completely, and yet again they dumbfounded their doubters from the start. Thinking, intelligent, flowing rugby is what the coaches’ want, and the boys tried their best to produce it. The movement and passing was to the fore, finally, players looking to offload before the tackle, to create space for their teammates, showing cohesion as well as individual flair. Treorchy came with all guns blazing, yet Ponty held, scored and then bullied their way forward, their defence as awesome as ever, driving Treorchy back time after time, and eventually proving comfortable winners. One down, two to go, and next up was Brecon! Pontypridd 35 Brecon 5 This team had proved victorious at the Brecon tournament 3 weeks ago, and had beaten Brecon comfortably earlier in the season. In the first match Ponty had scored 4 tries, yet, the fourth team in the tournament, Worcester had scored 5, and the boys were now anxious to put on a show. Brecon to be fair played their hearts out, tackling as hard as they could, but like King Canute, found the Ponty tide rolled on and over them remorselessly. The coaches had asked for more after the first game, more passing, more thought, more pace and more power, and the answer was a joy to behold for Ponty’s jubilant supporters. Brecon to their credit are only the third team to score a try against Ponty in the 4 tournaments and it was thoroughly deserved for the way they kept bravely battling on, yet to no avail. Worcester had also won their second game, and now the scene was set. It was as if the whole season now depended on this one match, Ponty v Worcester, Wales v England, even after all they have achieved this season, to lose this, their final game would have felt like a disaster. It was as if some master plan had been devised those long months ago in September to bring the season to a crescendo at this very moment, and as if to illustrate some higher power was behind it, the clouds moved and the sun shone, warming the atmosphere, raising the tension and allowing both sets of supporters to find their voices and provide a chorus of encouragement for both teams. Pontypridd 5 Worcester 0 We know from experience Worcester are well drilled and extremely physical, they had arrived with their supporters wearing a sprinkling of England shirts demonstrating the pride they have in their club and country. The sides faced each other like two behemoths in Greek mythology, and when the whistle went they thundered into each other with the force of two giants struggling for supremacy, it was as if the very ground itself was shaking! This would not be about pacey or intelligent rugby, this would be all about desire, who had the most passion, who had the bravery to stand up and be counted. Worcester was clearing Ponty out in the rucks in a way the boys had never encountered before. The physical challenge had been thrown down and it looked as if Ponty would buckle and break before this tremendous onslaught. The supporters on both sides were cheering with all their might, yet now you could almost sense the Ponty supporters thinking, well one defeat in a season would still be a good season, wouldn’t it? Yet the boys didn’t buckle, they didn’t break, they held and tackled and rucked and mauled as if their lives depended on it. They met the challenge head on, absorbed it and inch by inch slowly, surely, forced their way down the field. Half time had come and gone with seemingly no break in the game, the action was fast, furious and ferocious, yet neither side could prevail. Ponty then seemingly broke the deadlock to a wall of cheers from the crowd, only for it to be disallowed; the wailing and shouts of despair mirrored the cheers of relief and hope from the Worcester fans. Had that been the one chance to turn the game, to make or break the season? Emphatically, the answer was no! Ponty now had confidence oozing through them, they now knew they could match the physical challenge of Worcester, and now it was they driving back their opponents, they who looked like making the break, and shortly after, the pressure and power told as they crossed the Worcester line. A lesser team would have let their heads drop, would have capitulated, Worcester however, now came back stronger than before, yet the faces on the Ponty players showed they were in no mood to let this game slip. The sheer will and determination that flowed through each of the players was incessant, and try as hard as they could, Worcester had no answer. The final whistle was greeted on both sides as a relief, both physically and mentally, the game had proved the toughest test of the season, and Ponty had proved, yet again what a superb team they have become. Ponty and Welsh pride had prevailed, and in truth in was nothing the team did not deserved, and summed up the passion and bravery the boys have shown the whole season, in remaining undefeated. In the four tournaments, they have played 15 games, won 14, drawn 1, they have scored 76 tries and conceded only 3! Two weeks ago, although he didn’t realise it at the time, one of the English coaches at Barkers had eloquently summed up the entire season for Ponty, when he described them as ‘Awseome, simply awesome’, who could disagree? Had the team played to it’s potential? Quite frankly today, at the end it didn’t matter, all that did, was to celebrate and applaud a truly outstanding effort from all the players, and their coaches, who through a combination of coaxing, cajoling, explanation and the odd piece of shouting have transformed a group of promising players into a truly outstanding team. So, the only thing left to resolve, is for Warren Gatland to decide which of the Ponty team won’t be asked to tour South Africa next month!!!
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