News

It is with great sadness that we have to inform readers of the sudden passing of Nigel on Tuesday 9 February at the comparatively young age of 62.

Nigel was a member of the club from the time he started playing for the Youth when he was 16. He was a former youth, senior, and veteran’s player, youth coach, and touch judge for the 1^st XV’s League matches for a decade.

He joined the club as a Youth player and was part of the Youth XV from 1975/76 to the end of 1977/78. His first season as a senior player was in 1978/79 and his first points for the 1^st XV came with a conversion in the 30-12 home win against Gwent College.

In 1980/81, he became one of the few Welshmen to score a try and win a game against a New Zealand side, Nigel scoring one of the two tries scored by the Old Firm in the famous 20-18 win against touring team Goldfields at the Rec in October 1980. The photograph shown is the Mount team prior to this game, Nigel is in the backrow, 4^th from the left. He was also part of the 2^nd XV’s Ivor Williams Cup success that season when Mount lifted the Cup for the first time since 1965/66.

He continued playing senior rugby throughout the 1980s and also played for the Veterans XV and the newly set-up 3^rd XV in the early 1990s.

After finishing playing, he was Backs Coach of the successful Youth XV from 1994 to 1997 along with Forwards Coach Lawrence Lewis and Team Manager Jaimie Roberts. In 1994/95, the team got to two semi-finals and followed that with two successive Rhondda and East Glamorgan Merit Table championships in 1995/96 and 1996/97.

Nigel will be sadly missed by everyone at Mountain Ash RFC. His funeral is on Wednesday 24 February at 9:15am at his home in 45 Phillip Street, Mountain Ash. Cremation is in Llwydcoed Crematorium at 9:45am. On its way there, the hearse will pass St Margaret’s Church from 9:15am on. Attendance in Llwydcoed is by invite only due to the COVID-19 restrictions. R.I.P Nigel.