OWEN ENJOYING SPELL AT TAFFS WELL

Owen and his teammates have made a perfect start to the season, with a 19-0 win at Penygraig on Saturday cementing a five-from-five record in Division 4 South-East. And with Penarth losing to Penallta, Taffs Well have opened a three-point gap at the top ahead of this Saturday’s match at home to struggling Dowlais.

“David has joined us as a player-coach, and he’s brought a lot to the club,” Taffs Well secretary Mike Gibbons said. “He’s keen on the coaching side of things and he’s helping out our main coach, Robert Downes, who used to look after the Pontypridd Youth side.”

Gibbons says he isn’t surprised by the club’s impressive start to the season, pointing to a lot of hard work in the off-season as the main reason behind it.

“The guys have trained very hard, and that’s showing in our performances – our fitness levels are high and we’re playing well in the final 20 minutes. And the wins are increasing interest in the club – we had 40 players at the senior team’s training session the other night.

“As well, a couple of guys have returned to Taffs Well – props Steve Gibbs and Axel Rees – and they’ve really strengthened our frontrow and given us more options there.

“Our fly-half Owen Thomas is controlling things well out the back and we’re scoring some good tries. We just have to stay injury-free.”

Taffs Well are also boosted by the presence of two international players – fullback Mike Watkins plays for the World Cup-winning Wales Deaf team and winger Joe Sultana is a “currant” Malta Test player.

The draw has been kind to Taffs Well so far this season, and Gibbons says everyone at the club is keeping their feet on the ground ahead of some crunch clashes. The likes of Penallta, Penarth and Bedlinog are expected to be in the mix as the season progresses.

“We’re all aware that we haven’t played any of the big teams, but on the other side of the coin, four of our five matches have been away, so we’ve got some home matches to look forward to,” Gibbons said.

“We were all surprised that Penallta beat Penarth (47-18) on Saturday – Penallta must be a very good team to put 40 past a club like Penarth, who have such a strong pack.

“I don’t think anyone should count out the likes of Cowbridge, either – it’s going to be a good league this season.”

Taffs Well’s unbeaten start to the season also includes a Konica Minolta Cup first-round win over St Peters. They play Rhiwbina at home in the second round on Saturday week.

“We’re probably favourites because we’re at home and Rhiwbina are a division below us, but you can’t underestimate anyone in the Cup. If we go out there thinking we’ve already won it, we’ll lose it.”