Pontypool beat Cardiff in the WRU National Cup in a throwback to yesteryear, but the battle on the pitch was only half the story as Graham Thomas reports.
They won the tie, admirably, but Pontypool have claimed their shock WRU National Cup victory at Cardiff was soured by their hosts.
Pooler triumphed 43-32 at the Arms Park at the weekend, a result their chief executive Ben Jeffreys says is comfortably the team’s biggest achievement in the four years since he came on board.
It was a fixture that echoed some of the memorable battles in past years between two of the great names of Welsh rugby, before the impact of regionalism reduced both to the status of second tier feeder operations – in Pooler’s case third tier, after their fall from the Welsh Premiership into the Championship, a black hole from which there is currently no return.
A Cup tie in the capital on a Saturday should have been an occasion for honouring old rivalries and friendships, for proving that the semi-pro end of the game can fit comfortably alongside the slicker professional arm of the sport and still has a relevance.
Instead, Jeffreys has claimed Cardiff were poorly prepared for the fixture and the arrival of the “Pooler Army” he says consisted of around 1,000 visiting fans.
It was not a straightforward operation for Cardiff RFC as the Cardiff Blues were also playing in the same stadium on the same afternoon. It meant clearing out fans from the Blues’ home Pro 12 fixture against Treviso, unless they had a mind to stay, and filing in supporters for the Cup tie.
But with four hours between kick-off times – 2.30pm and 6.30pm – it was hardly beyond the bounds of practicality to handle both matches, something stadiums and sporting organisations manage to do the world over, with lesser matches often taking place ahead, or after the main event.
But Jeffreys has told Dai Sport that the visiting club were made to feel as if they were unwanted intruders, rather than guests and alleges:
* Cardiff as the home club were “completely unprepared” for the “Pooler army”.
* 1,000 Pontypool fans were kept waiting on the street until shortly before kick-off, and that many took their places after the match had begun because of the queues.
* There was only one Cardiff official selling tickets for the game.
* There was only one access and exit point into the stand allocated to Pontypool fans, which Jefferys considered constituted a likely breach of health and safety regulations.
* The Pontypool kit men were refused entrance to the stadium until 5.00pm and were unable to do their usual preparations. Further, one of the kit men, who is registered disabled, was not given anywhere to rest but had to wait on the street.
* That prior notification to Cardiff of the kit men’s arrival – including the sending of details including the vehicle registrtation number – had made no difference and they were still unable to enter.
* That Cardiff’s overall organisation and level of hospitality was a “complete shambles” and in sharp contrast to that of Llanelli who they had played in the previous round.
Jeffreys said: “We were very disappointed with Cardiff’s handling of the whole day and their preparation beforehand.
“I don’t know whether things were done – or not done – in a deliberate attempt to rile us, or whether it was just a lack of competence.
“But there were important issues of health and safety which seemed to have been ignored. It cannot be right that there was only one access point into and out of the stand and that only one person was selling tickets to a crowd of over 1,000 people.
“When we went to Llanelli in the round before, they were a shining example of good organisation and hospitality, but the experience at Cardiff was the total opposite – a complete shambles.”
A Cardiff Blues spokesman has told Dai Sport that responsibility for organising the crowds prior to the second match of the double header was with Cardiff RFC, but “through the operation of Cardiff Blues”.
The spokesman also added in a statement: “Following any event at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park an internal debrief takes place and we will take any learnings on board.”
Pooler are now focussing on their quarter-final tie, a Gwent derby at Cross Keys on March 4. It will provide another opportunity to gauge their progress against the standards in the Premiership and add further fuel to their argument that ring-fencing the division stifles the ambition of Championship clubs like themselves.
Having fallen on hard times a few years back and struggled for players, the club that once boasted Graham Price, Bobby Windsor, Charlie Faulkner, Terry Cobner, Mark Ring and David Bishop in their ranks have now won all 19 league and cup matches played so far this season and are attracting average home crowds of around 400.
“We may be stuck in the Championship, but the victory at Cardiff shows just what unity, spirit and togetherness counts for,” adds Jeffreys.
“We are very ambitious and we are still in year one of a three-year building programme. But we are already making a complete mockery of the whole concept of ring-fencing.
“Ring-fencing in sport creates complacency and entitlement. We are showing what can be done with commitment, ambition and hard work. The players, coaches, supporters and everyone at the club have worked so hard to put us back on the map and Saturday’s result in Cardiff proved that.”
