Ospreys trio Matthew Morgan, Scott Baldwin and Rhys Webb made a special return visit to their old comprehensive school, Brynteg, ahead of this weekend's game against Harlequins at the Riverside Hardware Brewery Field.
The three former Ravens players were joined for the visit by fellow Ospreys Lloyd Peers, another to have come through the Bridgend system, and Jonathan Thomas, who now lives in the district, as they delivered a series of coaching sessions to pupils at their former school, which is renowned as a hotbed of rugby development, producing many Ospreys, Wales internationals and British Lions over the years.
Speaking after spending Wednesday afternoon at the school, Baldwin said:
“It was a great afternoon at the old school. It’s great to be able to go back to Brynteg and see so many familiar faces among the teachers, and hopefully, to help inspire some of the pupils who may hope to be rugby players one day.
“We are going back to Bridgend this weekend to play Harlequins and you could sense there was real excitement among the children about being able to go to their local club to see the Ospreys play.”
Meanwhile, this weekend's captain Webb added:
“I’ve got lots of happy memories of my time at Brynteg, particularly in terms of my rugby development. It’s a great rugby school with a tradition of bringing through players and hopefully there some of the pupils there on Wednesday will one day pull on the Ospreys shirt.
“Hopefully we’ll see some of them at the Brewery Field on Sunday. It’s great for the local community and for rugby in Bridgend that they can watch so many Bridgend boys in action for the Ospreys in their town.”
Mikey Williams, WRU/Ospreys Participation Officer for Bridgend organised the visit to Brynteg and he said:
“School visits are always popular with the pupils and teachers, particularly when the players attending are former pupils of the school. It gives the children real role models that they can aspire to follow – after all, if these three boys can progress from playing for Brynteg to becoming Ospreys then why can’t they?
“The boys were brilliant and everyone had a really great afternoon. The presence of the Ospreys in Bridgend this week has given the place a real buzz. It should be a great occasion on Sunday afternoon.”