The Wales cap is Bonymaen’s forwards coach and will be present at the Principality Stadium on Sunday. And Bonymaen head coach Stuart Allen believes Thornton’s expertise can give his side an extra advantage.
“I’ve been really impressed with Rory,” said Allen.“All the players are his mates and he’s a Bonymaen boy. To have his wealth of knowledge and his experience as an international and a regional player has paid dividends to us.
“I’ve got a lot of time for Rory. He will be here today coaching the boys. He’s done a fantastic job with the players, but there is no ego attached to him. He’s just one of the boys.
“The fact he’s currently involved in a professional environment means he passes on a lot of worthwhile experience to us which has been really helpful. But at the same time it’s a team effort and all the boys and the other coaches have worked very hard to put us in a position to win silverware.”
Bonymaen’s success is built around a strong team ethic with every player prepared to shed blood for the jersey. Hooker and captain Andrew Pritchard believes the spirit within the camp is so strong it can get them over the line this afternoon. The 31-year-old electrician spent a season playing semi-professional rugby for Llandovery in the Principality Premiership but insists it doesn’t come close to representing his home town club.
He said: “I’ve been involved with Bonymaen for 20 years. I came through the juniors and played youth up there. There are only two boys in our squad at the moment who haven’t come through our junior or youth set-up which shows the hard work everyone puts in behind the scenes has paid off.
“I couldn’t ask to play with a better bunch of boys. Everyone has come through the system and it just means so much more because a lot of the boys played together through juniors and youth.
“When you were playing juniors your aspiration was to play for the senior team. To walk out at Principality Stadium today with the club’s colours and badge on will be amazing.
“Everyone is going to be bouncing for the occasion, but we’ve got to keep a cool head at the same time.”
