Harry Rees-Weldon says Ebbw Vale can use the bitter disappointment of just missing out on silverware last season as fuel to mount a fresh challenge for honours in Super Rygbi Cymru.
Injury will prevent the 20-year-old from taking his place on the wing for Ebbw in their SRC opener against Aberavon this weekend – but the Dragons and Wales U20 speedster is itching to get back to help the Steelmen try and go one better.
Ebbw were defeated 27-18 at Eugene Cross Park by Gwent rivals Newport in May’s Grand Final.
Two months earlier, they were comprehensively defeated 39-7 by Llandovery at Church Bank in the final of the SRC Cup – the club’s first Cup final appearance since 1998.
Newport, of course, went one better having lost out in the Premiership final to Llandovery the season before and Rees-Weldon hopes Ebbw can do the same.
“I think we’ve made a good few signings, but I also think the core of the team is still there and going strong,” he says ahead of the new season.
“We’ll just keep bouncing back from last year and we know how we felt in the final – how that loss felt – and use that to fuel us.
“The aim for us every year is we want to win silverware; we were in every final last year but we just weren’t the better team on the day.
“Looking forward to this year; we know how that feels, we know how both finals felt – so there’s no reason why we can’t go and do it this year.”
Rees-Weldon, who missed this summer’s World Rugby U20 Championship in Italy with a hamstring injury, had only just returned to team training with the Steelmen at the end of last month when he sustained an unfortunate foot injury which will rule him out of the early rounds of SRC.
But the future is a bright one for Rees-Weldon, whose impressive form earned him a new deal with the Dragons ahead of the new season.
Once he does return, he will be looking to build on a stand-out season.
It was one which saw him score a match-winning try for Wales U20s to beat England to deny them the Grand Slam in a remarkable U20 Six Nations clash at the Arms Park in March, before making his senior bow for the Dragons.
He duly marked his debut by scoring a try against the Ospreys in the United Rugby Championship at the end of April.
He then followed that up with back-to-back URC starts for the Dragons in South Africa against the Stormers and Bulls.
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Meanwhile, his try for Ebbw against Newport in February was picked out as the Super Rygbi Cymru’s try of the season.
“I think it’s going really well,” he confirms.
“Off the back of Wales U20s, I’ve signed for three years with the Dragons so that’s all really positive.
“This year, I’ll be jumping between the SRC and hopefully having some game time in the URC, or if not, the Challenge Cup, and getting an opportunity to showcase what I can do.
“The SRC is a really great league; I played my first year in the Indigo Premiership where I progressed and ended up going over into U20s a year early from that, so I think it’s a really good place to be seen.
“Richard [Whiffin, Wales U20 head coach) has said he is watching at least a game every weekend and to be able to be watched by coaches, boys are putting their hand up in this league to get picked for games with the Under 20s and then their regional sides.”
If Rees-Weldon continues his rate of progress, then a few more coaches will be glancing in his direction.
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