Cross Keys RFC
Full nameCross Keys Rugby Football Club
Nickname(s)The Keys
Founded1885[1]
LocationCrosskeys, Wales
Ground(s)Pandy Park (Capacity: 3,000)
PresidentWales Terry Howell
Coach(es)Wales Morgan Stoddart
Wales Greg Woods Wales Gewsyn Price-Jones
Captain(s)Tom Lampard
League(s)Welsh Championship
2018-current5th Welsh Championship
Team kit
Official website
www.crosskeysrfc.com

Cross Keys RFC (Welsh: Clwb Rygbi Pont-y-Cymer) is a rugby union club located in the Welsh village of Crosskeys. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union, and is a feeder club for the Dragons regional team.[2]

History

Cross Keys RFC, Stade Bergeyre, France, 1 November 1921

The club achieved first class-status in 1909, winning the Monmouthshire league three times.[citation needed]

By 1920 the team had their first international player, when Steve Morris won a cap for Wales. Morris would win 19 caps and captained Wales in 1925.[3] Caps followed during the 1920s for Ossie Male and Lonza Bowdler, both returned over several seasons for Wales, facing not only Five Nations Championships but also touring teams.

In 1926 Cross Keys RFC found themselves in dire financial trouble, and requested help from the Welsh Rugby Union. The WRU refused an appeal for a cash loan, but instead agreed to send the Welsh national team to play in an exhibition match at Pandy Park. The sell-out crowd assured Cross Keys future and resulted in an historic win for the home team thirteen points to eight.[4]

Rugby observers have noted the high level of talent in the Cross Keys pack, and criticised the fact they went under represented in the national team during the 1920s[5] and 1930s.[6]

Cross Keys reached the final of the 2011–12 British and Irish Cup, losing to Munster A.[7] Cross Keys won their first Swalec Cup, defeating table topping Pontypridd at the Millennium Stadium in 2012.[8]

Club honours

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national union under World Rugby eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-World Rugby nationality.

Player Position Union
Connah Vaughan Hooker Wales Wales
John Lavender Prop Wales Wales
Louis Tovey Hooker Wales Wales
Leon Brown Prop Wales Wales
Lewis Pryce-Jones Prop Wales Wales
Richard Cornock Prop Wales Wales
Jordan Rogers Prop Wales Wales


?? Wales Wales
?? Wales Wales
Matthew Hall Lock Wales Wales
Brian Feeney Lock Wales Wales
Callum Hague Lock Wales Wales
Tom Lampard Lock Wales Wales
Harvey Reader Lock Wales Wales
Alfy Johnson Flanker Wales Wales


Ashley Gibson Flanker Wales Wales
Morgan Koloi Flanker Wales Wales
Will Gregory Flanker Wales Wales
Lewis Robey Number 8 Wales Wales
Chris Johnsey Flanker Wales Wales
Player Position Union
Scrum-half Wales Wales
Zach Bartlett Scrum-half Wales Wales
Sam Ireland Scrum-half Wales Wales
Fly-half Wales Wales Harri Ford
Ben Murphy Fly-half Wales Wales
Centre Wales Wales
Centre Wales Wales
Centre Wales Wales Liam Thomas
Corey Nicholls Centre Wales Wales
Adam Tetley Centre Wales Wales
Wing Wales Wales Will Rees
Walker Price Wing Wales Wales
Tom Gillespie Wing Wales Wales
Tom Davies Wing Wales Wales
Jake Hillman Fullback Wales Wales
Morgan Johns Fullback Wales Wales

Notable former players

The following list is made up of ex-Cross Keys players who have all won international caps as either a rugby union or rugby league player.

See also Category:Cross Keys RFC players

Games played against international opposition

Year Date Opponent Result Score Tour
1985 9 October  Fiji Loss 12-26 1985 Fiji rugby union tour of Wales and Ireland[17]
2022 2 November Poland Loss 37-12 2022 REC Preparations

References

  1. ^ The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales page 178, John Davies, Nigel Jenkins, Menna Baines and Peredur Lynch (2008) ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6
  2. ^ BBC News (2004-07-08). "Wales' regional rugby map". BBC. Retrieved 2008-06-03.
  3. ^ A Century of Welsh Rugby Players 1890-1980, Wayne Thomas; Ansells (1979) pg.61
  4. ^ The Rugby Clubs of Wales pp149, David Parry-Jones (1989) ISBN 0-09-173850-4
  5. ^ Smith (1980), pg 259.
  6. ^ Smith (1980), pg 282.
  7. ^ "BBC Sport - British and Irish Cup: Cross Keys 20-16 Cornish Pirates". BBC Sport.
  8. ^ "Swalec Cup: Cross Keys 32-19 Pontypridd". BBC Sport. 7 May 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  9. ^ a b "- the history of rugby through its competitions". Archived from the original on 2013-12-07. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
  10. ^ Smith (1980), pg 463.
  11. ^ Smith (1980), pg 466.
  12. ^ a b Smith (1980), pg 469.
  13. ^ a b Smith (1980), pg 471.
  14. ^ a b Smith (1980), pg 472.
  15. ^ Smith (1980), pg 473.
  16. ^ Smith (1980), pg 474.
  17. ^ Stephen Jones, ed. (1986). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1986-87. Queen Anne Press. p. 38. ISBN 0-356-12361-8.

Bibliography