Ospreys players made a special visit to Rhigos RFC recently for a club development night.
Organised by the Ospreys Community Rugby team’s Afan Nedd player development officer Andrew Thomas, the event saw Rhigos inviting their minis section along to participate.
In attendance from the Ospreys were Dai Flanagan, Sam Williams and Tom Habberfield, who offered advice and demonstrated practical skills examples for the enthusiastic youngsters.
There were over 20 local boys and girls involved during the evening, who enjoyed testing their skills against the Ospreys players.
The youngsters then had an opportunity to ask the Ospreys players some questions, all of which were answered with good humour, allowing the young Rhigos players to understand the role and responsibilities of the modern professional player in the community, before the trio signed autographs and posed for pictures with the youngsters. There was then a special request for Flanagan to demonstrate his kicking ability, the fly-half slotting over a 40-metre kick straight between the posts to the delight of the children.
Rhigos RFC Coach Neil Lewis said:
“I’d like to thank the Ospreys for their support. All the children really enjoyed interacting with the senior Osprey players.”
WRU/Ospreys Regional Development Manager, Ben Rose, said:
“We are committed to working with the clubs in the region to increase the number of people playing rugby at all levels, and development nights like this are an important way of encouraging youngsters to take up rugby and hopefully, develop a lifelong passion for the game.
“The children from Rhigos RFC had a wonderful evening and will take from it the experience of getting to know some of the Ospreys players. The likes of Sam Williams and Tom Habberfield are young men from the region who can be inspirations to boys playing at their local club hoping to one day be a part of the Ospreys set-up.”
If any children would like to have a similar positive experience of getting involved within rugby in Neath Port Talbot then contact Afan Nedd Development Officer Andrew Thomas on 07814 781 015 or andrew.thomas@ospreysrugby.com.