CARDIGAN MEET PRESELI BABAS

Pembrokeshire Cancer Support will be the beneficiaries of a charity rugby match that will take place at Cardigan’s King George field this Saturday afternoon (1pm) and which ends just in time to sit back and enjoy the France v Wales Six Nations match on the box.

With the finale of the annual international series coming to an end and the hugely anticipated WRU National Bowl semi-final fast approaching, Cardigan coach Colin Horscroft and his men face the task of taking on the Zoti Preseli Babas for their chosen charity. The Zoti Preseli Babas are a sevens team at heart which were established in 2015, when a small group of Pembrokeshire rugby enthusiasts, decided to create a sevens side in the county, something that wasn’t around in the Crymych area at the time.

In their short period as a team, they have entered a number of tournaments and have not disappointed in their early years as a team. Successes include winning the Newport, Froom & Machynlleth 7’s in 2016, with the side also being Plate winners in the Heart of Wales 7’s. This will be the Zoti Preseli Babas’s first game as a 15 a side, and Amir Jiwa Walji, one of the founders of the club said that he was expecting an ‘interesting’ battle with the Cardis.

“We haven’t played 15 a side together before, so it’s going to be an interesting challenge and hopefully the boys will turn up and put a shift in.”

Former Crymych youth captain, Amir, 23, who won’t be playing on the day due to a rib injury, has included many talented players in his squad – many of whom play higher up the divisions. There is a strong contingent of Division one side Crymych in the squad, with props Ifan James and Steffan Harries, second-rower Rhys Davies, back-rower Guto Davies, centre Tomos Lewis, wingers Dylan Ladd and Laurence Headlam, and scrum-half Mathew Roebuck, who will captain his side on the day.

Also included in the squad is Zac France-Miller of Whitland, and Championship high fliers Narberth will also have a presence on the pitch in front-rower Ryan Rees and utility back Gethin Gibby. The former Cardiff Metropolitan student has also included players who have never stepped a foot on the King George’s fields and it will be interesting to see how the likes of Rhys Jones of Clwb Rygbi Cymru Caerdydd, Ben White of Dinas Powys and Josh Bridson of Rhymney RFC perform on the day. With the national semi-final a week on Saturday, it would be no surprise to the spectators that some of Cardigan’s key players will be rested but this could also be an opportunity for the fringe players to raise their hands and give more of a selection dilemma to the coaching team at Cardigan.

Mr Jiwa Walji said that he was very is pleased that Cardigan RFC and their players, some of them former Preseli Babas players had offered to take on this fixture and added:

“A few of the Cardigan boys have helped us out in the past with the likes of John Lumb, Marcus Castle and Alun Jenkins, so it was a good club for us to choose to play the fixture.

“But we are also reliant on support from others and I’d also like to thank our main sponsors Zoti for the massive support they have given us and to all our other sponsors for making this day happen.” The game is expected to be a high scoring contest, with running rugby expected throughout and ofcourse it is being played for a good cause too.

Please give generously to Pembrokeshire Cancer Support.

Players will be carrying donation buckets after the game and in the rugby club and there is also a just giving page. https://www.justgiving.com/pembrokeshirecancersupport