Dragons V Waunarlwydd. Home. 11/03/12.

We played Wauarlwydd at home today.

The weather was fantastic with warm spring sunshine; completely different from last weeks freezing mud bath!

It was a good game today with plenty of try's. Both teams defended well resulting in turnover ball.

After the game we went for hotdogs at the club.

Well done Dragons.

Mark.

Mumbles Hippos Training Session!

Yuk, yuk yuk!

There was so much mud today that I am thinking of changing our name from Dragons to Hippos!

The boys did really well in cold, wet and muddy conditions. We played bulldogs, did a drill to help with tagging, evasion and scoring trys. We then had quick game of tag rugby.

We emphasised how the Dragons should line up to provide support when attacking and forming a tag line when defending.

I would like to apologise to all your washing machines!

See you next week.

Mark.

Dragons V Dunvant (Home).

Well Dragons you were brilliant!

Nigel and I were so proud of the boys. We had a cracking game against Dunvant last Sunday. Dunvant are a really good team who won convincingly when we last played them. This time was different. The Dragons were on fire!

We started the game with a series of tags. The Dragons stopped Dunvant from scoring them proceeded to score a try themselves. Some great passes and try's ensured. Well done boys.

I would like to thank Lucio for his help with the substitutions and Andrew for his coaching tips.

Mark.

Dragons V Vardre (Away).

It was definitely a game of two half's against Vardre. They dominated the first 10 minutes but the Dragons played really well when play resumed in the second half.

The team pulled together and there were some brilliant individual efforts. Ben deserves a special mention. I was so proud when he ran the length of the pitch, put in a great pass after being tagged near the line and set up a try!

Well done Dragons.

Mark.

Wrong Shaped Ball! Football skills at Swansea Museum.

Next weekend there is a free event at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea that the kids may like. Rhys and I are planning to go after the rugby.

This is the information from their web page:

Join Welsh Freestyler and World Record Holder Ash Randall as he entertains with a unique football freestyle display.

Grab the opportunity to hone your own freestyle skills with Ash as he offers a master class, teaching some of the techniques that have made him one of the best and most sought after football freestyler entertainers in the world.

Ash first decided to try football freestyle at the age of 16 after seeing a TV commercial where Edgar Davids was performing football skills while talking on the phone. This moment caught Ash's imagination and inspired him to teach himself the skills.

Ash has since become one of the top football freestyler entertainers in the world and has performed at half time intervals at football matches, and even ice hockey games in front of up to 50,000 people.

As well as performing, Ash has featured in various TV programmes and commercials alongside a host of football greats.

11 & 12 Feb, 11.30am, 12.30, 2 and 3pm

Training at the beach

We ran our training session at Caswell beach today as we were worried that the pitch at Bishopston would either be frozen or waterlogged!

The Met Office got their forecast right and the weather was great (I only doubted them for a while!).

We started with our usual warm up (I always glance nervously around the beach to see if Gavin Henson is there!). Bulldogs next. Then sessions to practise our passing skills.

During the tag game at the end we stopped play to explain rules and tactics. We also asked the boys to pass the ball before they were tagged. They did really well.

The boys looked fantastic in their new jerseys.

We are training again next week. More details to follow.

Mark.

Training / Game against Mumbles Knights

We had a training session at Bishopston today. The weather was so cold that we had to keep the boys moving.

We played a game with our friends the Mumbles Knights. They are a great team, full of enthusiasm, with some star players.

The big news of the day was that we recived a new shirts. They look absolutely fantastic. Nigel has done a brilliant job. Thank you for your hard work.

At the moment we don't have a game scheduled so we will be training at Bishopston. We will meet at 10:30. See you next week.

Mark.

New clubhouse and facilities in Underhill Park, Mumbles

Mumbles RFC home ground is in Underhill park. This is a great location but the pitch has poor drainage and the layout does not make best use of the area available. The other big drawback is that our clubhouse is not on this site. This makes a huge differnce as you will have experienced when visiting other clubs this year.

There are plans to join with the Rangers (Mumbles football club) to purchase and develop Underhill park, This which will culminate in a new clubhouse. For this to happen we need people with skills and commitment to be part of the project team. We need members or parents perhaps versed in finance, design, planning, legal, fund raising etc.

The club will be holding a meeting in March to discuss the way forward, for a chance that might not occur again.

If you can help please let me know.

Mark.

Last weekend (S.Gower) & Sunday 29 January (Training)

We played South Gower last weekend and were well and truly beaten! It is good to play a superior team from time to time. That's all I want to say about that!

Thanks for your support at the club. We lobbied hard to get catering provided. That has now happened but the Dragons still want their hotdogs! I have asked if we can get hotdogs as well as the healthier option next time.

We have a break from our scheduled games. On Sunday 29 January we will be doing some joint training and playing against the Mumbles Knights (Under 6 Beach Rugby Team). Please meet at Bishopston at 10:30.

Nigel has revived the new rugby jerseys that he designed for our team. He will be handing these out to the Dragons tomorrow. If you have not yet paid your subs for the year please can you bring £42 tomorrow as we need the cash!

Mark.

Dragons V Gowerton

We played Gowerton (Away) today. The weather was absolutely freezing but the boys did really well. The teams were evenly matched and the Dragons played some great rugby. Well done Dragons.

See you all next week for a home game against South Gower. Please bring a change of shoes as we will probably go back to the club for hotdogs.

Mark.

Dragons V Dunvant

The Dragons played really well against Dunvant, who were one of the strongest teams that we have played so far. The boys were really enthusiastic and got stuck in despite the long Christmas break. Well done everyone.

Mark.

Dragons V Knights

We met our friends from the beach today at Bishopston. The under 6 tag team, the Knights, joined us for a game.

Lisa and Dylan have done a great job with their team. The boys were fantastic with some real stars in the making. Well done to you all.

We have a new Dragon. Joe joined our team today and played really well.

See you all next week.

Mark.

Joint training and game with Mumbles Knights

Penclawydd don't have an under 7 team so we have booked a pitch at Bishopston. We are planning to train and play games against our friends from the beach. Dylan's under 6 tag team, Mumbles Knights, will be joining us.

Nigel has finalised the our new shirt design. We will be doing a fitting this Sunday so we can place an order next week.

Please arrive at 10:45 for the fitting. We will play and train until 11am.

See you tomorrow,

Mark.

Training

We took a break from games against other teams this week and practised our skills.

During our training we focused on tagging, running onto the ball, picking up a ball from the ground and passing. We also had a quiz on tag rugby rules.

The Dragons did really well. I was pleased to see the skills being used in our tag game at the end. Well done boys.

We have another away game against Penclawydd next Sunday. I will post details as soon as I receive them.

See you next week,

Mark.

Waunarlwydd Away. Sunday 20 Nov.

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry and sorry!

Thank you for all arriving early and waiting for so long in the cold.

We tried to do our best with the Dragons while we were waiting for our game to start. Thank you Grant for your help. We played bulldogs, practised passing, ran relay races and played Grants tag and evasion game.

My non game highlight was catching one of the Dragons sitting on the water bottle caps just before his team-mate took a long refreshing drink...Yuk!

When our game eventually started the Dragons were fantastic. The boys were on fire this week! I lost count of the number of great individual tries from the team. There were some great tags as well.

Thank you for your support and patience today. See you next week,

Mark.

Who are we!

Bulldog in today's pre match training

Super swerving! We have a potential Shane Williams in the making I think!

Photos from our games against Banwen and Neath

Thank you Lucio for sharing your photos with us again. Mark.

Dragons V Neath and Banwen (away)

The Dragons were fantastic last weekend!

We played Banwen then Neath. Our team played so well in both games. I lost count of those who scored tries!

Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera so I don't have any photos. Lucio did have his so I hope to put some photos on the blog soon.

My highlight of the day was an off the pitch moment when I saw Jess jumping up and down after Morgan scored a great try!

We have a game next weekend against Loughor (away....again!). Hope you can join us then.

Well done Dragons.

Mark.