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Page 1 of 2 Last week saw the visit of Cal Poly Under 23's Californian touring side to South Wales that culminated in a match against a very young Pontypridd Youth side...
The Cal Poly RFC Mustangs are the California Polytechnic State University under 23’s rugby team who ply their trade in the top division of the American National League and are the current Southern California RFU League champions. The team arrived in the UK on Sunday and were staying in Cardiff for the extent of their tour. On Monday they toured the Millennium Stadium, followed on Tuesday by a training session with Chris Davey. The Mustangs ended their day at Hirwaun where they watched the match between Hirwaun RFC and their own local rivals the University of California Irwin (UCI). On Wednesday the Mustangs got their first glimpse of Pontypridd and the Rhondda, where they were staggered to find the match with Pontypridd Youth advertised everywhere they went, including on the giant billboard opposite Sardis House. A brief visit to Sardis Road was followed by a trip through the Rhondda that included a brief on the cultural history of the valleys that was reinforced by a visit to the Rhondda Heritage Park. There they heard the story of black gold and toured underground before a furious ride to the surface. After dinner at the Rhondda Heritage Park the Mustangs departed for Ynysybwl where they faced a team made up of Ynysybwl Youth and some younger senior players. After a hard fought match that Cal Poly lead for the most part, the Bwl eventually scraped a victory against what proved to be a big and very mobile American side. Thursday was spent recovering before again watching an UCI match, this time against Cardiff High School. Friday started with a welcome to Pontypridd by Mayor Joyce Cass along with Michael Powell of the Liberal Democrats and the representatives of Pontypridd Mini & Junior Rugby. Everyone was invited into the mayoral offices to enjoy tea and Welsh cakes with the Mayor. Gifts were exchanged, including a flag of the Republic of California and the Cal Poly University crest that was presented to the council and a council plaque was presented to the Cal Poly coaches. The Cal Poly players were each presented with leather binders with the council motif engraved, so they can remember their visit whenever they’re studying and were invited to add their names to the visitor’s book. With the players blown away by the welcome and with the formalities over with, the team took a short walk to the Pontypridd Bridge c1756 for some photo opportunities and a visit to the Pontypridd Museum, before a short bus ride across town to the Grogg Shop, where they once again warmly welcomed. Lunch followed at Weatherspoons before the players got the afternoon to spend their cash in Pontypridd town centre. Crunch time came at 7.15pm at Sardis Road where they kicked off against Pontypridd Youth. The game started in a flurry with the Californians on the front foot and testing the youth defences. Eventually the Americans additional maturity, size and strength showed as they scored two tries to Ponty’s solitary penalty by Rhys Simms to take a half-time lead of 10-3. In the second half there was a determined fight-back by Ponty that saw a fantastic opportunity try by centre Dan Deardon that was unfortunately and unjustly disallowed by the referee. Within minutes though the Mustangs broke through again to take their lead to 15-3. Eventually the guile and experience of this young Ponty side saw openside Dafydd Gristock steal opposition ball in the Mustangs twenty-two to score a deserving try for the home team that was successfully converted by Rhys Simms to bring Ponty within one score. Ponty kept applying the pressure, but the final whistle blew with Ponty camped on the opposition try line to give Cal Poly a hard fought and deserving victory of 15-10. The match proved a high tempo and physical affair, with Cal Poly proving a great advert for American Rugby and Pontypridd Youth showing the Ponty Pride, Passion and Committment that Pontypridd teams of old were traditionally known for. FULL MATCH REPORT... A traditional British treat of curry and chips was washed down with Welsh cakes and the Otley special brew the ‘CalifOrnia Gold Rush’ that was brewed for the occassion. Then followed the formal presentations between the teams that were presented by Lee Evans. An evening of games and an evening of singsongs followed, with both sets of players participating, whilst the older heads swapped stories in the Sardis clubhouse as the festivities went on well into the night... Saturday saw the festivities continue as Cal Poly went on an extended pub-crawl before going to Rodney Parade to watch several ex-Ponty players demolish Brive again. A final dinner on Saturday night wrapped up the tour before leaving the UK to return to the USA on Sunday. All involved at Pontypridd Youth wish Cal Poly a safe flight home and hope they take with them some fond memories of their Welsh experience, along with the hwyl that they encountered. A big thank you goes out to everyone involved in the festivity that was the Cal Poly tour and it’s hoped that the opportunity for a return fixture to California could become a possibility sometime in the next couple of seasons. Thank you especially to the Mayors office, Mayor Joyce Cass and councillor Michael Powell for giving the Americans such a great welcome. Thank you to the Mini and Junior Section committee and Dale McIntosh who were heavily involved behind the scenes in bringing the game to Pontypridd. Thank you to the players of the Mini and Junior section who supported the youth throughout the match and for volunteering to sell the match programs on a bitterly cold night. A thanks also to the Otley for brewing an original ale for the occasion, to the Reprographics department of the University of Glamorgan who produced the match programs. To Speedy Hire for sponsoring the programs, to Egan Waste, elephant.co.uk and the Welsh Blood Service for sponsoring Pontypridd Youth. A thank you also goes out to the Grogg Shop who kindly donated two Groggs for the man of the match award and as a gift to the visitors. Thanks to Pontypridd Embroidery Services for donating polo shirts to the youth coaching staff, to the Bearlands Restaurant of Gloucester and Cwm Hafan Domiciliary Care Agency for their kindly donations to the youth team. A special thanks to Julie Carpenter and Nathan Hughes of the Valley View restaurant in the Rhondda Heritage Park who stayed open past their normal open times to feed the hungry Mustangs after their visit to the Rhondda. Finally big thanks to Pontypridd Rugby Club along with their wonderful backroom staff for hosting the event and making it the occasion that it was, hopefully this will prove the first of many such nights for the youth at Sardis. Full match report and photo’s of the weeks events to follow…
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