Wales U20 caps Evan Minto, Ryan Jones, Evan Wood, Owain James and Harri Ford will all be reunited at Pontypool this season when they look to further develop in Super Rygbi Cymru.
All five featured in the recent World Rugby U20 Championships in Italy and Minto, Jones, James and Ford will combine playing in the SRC with continuing in the Dragons Academy.
Pontypool head coach Tom Hancock, who doubles as a senior coach with the Dragons Academy manager, has seen Huw Anderson, Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, Morgan Lloyd and Sam Scarfe all graduate into the senior Dragons squad after playing at Pooler and has introduced a host of young talent into his club squad for the new season.
He will still have the vast experience of back row talisman Scott Matthews and Morgan Allen to nurture the likes of Minto and Jones, while Mike Herbert will captain the team once again. Hancock has also signed-up former Dragons second row Joe Davies.
Davies came through the Dragons academy and Welsh age-grade ranks before making his debut for the Men of Gwent in 2013. He went on to make 137 appearances up to last season and joins the 23-year-old Liam Antrobus as a new second row arrival.
Antrobus spent three years at Cardiff Met before heading home to America to play in the Major Rugby League with RFC Los Angeles.
“We believe we have the right blend of experience and youth, with the core of the boys being local. The aims of the SRC tournament are multifaceted but we certainly believe that this squad will see us able to challenge for silverware,” said Hancock.
“At the same time we want to provide the best possible environment for every one of the boys to develop. Our link with the Dragons has been strong for a few years now and it was great to see Huw, Scarfey, DKG and Morgan make significant breakthroughs last term at Rodney Parade.
“They all bought into the Pontypool ethos and were accepted by all the boys in the squad. We expect that to be exactly the same this year with the new group.
“We struggled in certain key positions last season so a high priority for us was to ensure we built far greater depth moving into this season. With 39 contracted players signed-up for pre-season we certainly feel we’ve addressed that.
“We'll be working with a number of other clubs to ensure that boys not selected for us do play, and play regularly. Our pre-season started in early July and we’ve been building each week so we’re ready for our first SRC fixture on 13 September.
“We’ve got some tough pre-season fixtures lined-up. That’s what we had last season and we wanted the same this year.”
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There are a number of front row arrivals with the 21-year-old Polish international loose head prop Jake Wisniewski joining from Championship side Cross Keys. Tom Sims, 22, joins from Dings Crusaders having spent three years in the Bristol Bears academy.
He has also featured for Hartpury in the Championship on a number of occasions and has also played in New Zealand. He has played Premiership Rugby Cup games for both Hartpury and Bristol and was capped for England U19.
Owen Popple, who will be 20 when the season starts, is another tight head prop who is heading to Pontypool Park. He has been at Hartpury University and been part of the Leicester Tigers academy.
Originally from Llantwit Fardre, he will be following in the footsteps of older brother Joe in playing for Pontypool.
George Tuckley, who has played for Wales U18 and made the Wales U20 training squad last season, is another prop joining the club.
Tuckley will be 19 in August, while former Ysgol Glantaf prop Sion Hill, who is 18, is joining on a dual-contract with Glamorgan Wanderers. Two other players earmarked for bright futures are scrum half Cai Wardman, wo will train with the senior squad while continuing to ply at Penallta, and Connor Milsom, rom St Peter’s.
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Ex-RGC, Merthyr and Brecon wing Sam Jones will add pace, power and experience to the back line, where he will find plenty of competition from Wales U18 wing Rhys Cole and former Wales U20 cap Walker Price, who will be a full-time Pontypool asset this season.
Louis Rees, 22 and an Abergavenny resident, joins from Carmarthen Quins where he made 19 appearances in SRC last season.
Sam Berry, 20, is a local Pontypool boy who joins from Cardiff Met.
He will add depth and challenge for the outside half jersey. He’s also played for Cross Keys in the WRU Championship and won Wales U18 honours.
Connor Chapman, Tye Davies, Harry Drane, Matthew Flanagan, Jack Gillard, Owain Leonard, Matthew Powell, Adam Stratton and Lewis Bates have all left the club.
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PONTYPOOL PRE-SEASON FIXTURES
| Date | Fixture |
|---|---|
| 9 August | Pontypool, Talywain and Blaenavon round robin at Talywain |
| 16 August | Dings Crusaders (away, KO 1.00pm) |
| 23 August | Birmingham Moseley (home, KO 2.30pm) |
| 30 August | Cinderford (away, KO 3.00pm) |
