Penclawdd RFC is a Rugby Football

Rugby football

Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

 Club representing the town of Penclawdd

Penclawdd

Penclawdd is a village which is situated in the north of the Gower Peninsula in Swansea, Wales. Penclawdd is most famous for its local cockle industry which goes back for many years to Roman times. It falls within the Penclawdd electoral ward. It is one of the larger villages on the Gower Peninsula...

, Swansea

Swansea

Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union

Welsh Rugby Union

The Welsh Rugby Union is the governing body of rugby union in Wales, recognised by the International Rugby Board.The union's patron is Queen Elizabeth II, and her grandson Prince William of Wales became the Vice Royal Patron of the Welsh Rugby Union as of February 2007.-History:The roots of the...

 and is a feeder club for the Ospreys. Players from the club are nicknamed the Donks.

History

Penclawdd Rugby Club officially formed in 1888, but rugby has been played in the village since 1880-81, the same year as the founding of the Welsh Rugby Union.

In its formative years the club had no permanent pitch, but played on suitable available ground in various areas of the village. It initially used the Dunraven Field, later Cae Dono (Dono's field) on top of the Graig, and during the years preceding the First World War, a field at Graig-y-Coed was favoured.

During the 1906-06 season Penclawdd were unsuccessful in its application to join the WRU. The club was disbanded during the First World War years but re-formed once the war ended.

In 1922 the club obtained its own pitch for the first time. It leased the Welfare ground known as the Rec., situated at the foot of the Graig, behind the Tabernacle Chapel. A pavilion was built on the land for the use of the Penclawdd Rugby and Cricket Clubs. In 1927 Penclawdd received Welsh Rugby Union membership, twenty two years after its initial application.

The 1946/47 season saw the establishment of the Penclawdd Rugby Youth.

Club badge

The club badge is a shield divided into quarters. Each quarter contains an image associated with the area. The castle and portcullis gate represent the gate to the Gower

Gower Peninsula

Gower or the Gower Peninsula is a peninsula in south Wales, jutting from the coast into the Bristol Channel, and administratively part of the City and County of Swansea. Locally it is known as "Gower"...

, the Prince of Wales's feathers

Prince of Wales's feathers

The Prince of Wales's feathers is the heraldic badge of the Heir Apparent to the British and Commonwealth Realms thrones. It consists of three white feathers emerging from a gold coronet. A ribbon below the coronet bears the motto Ich dien...

 and dragon

Dragon

A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...

 are symbols of Wales, and the cockles

Cockle (bivalve)

Cockle is the common name for a group of small, edible, saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the family Cardiidae.Various species of cockles live in sandy sheltered beaches throughout the world....

 represent Penclawdd’s big industry was once the collecting of cockles.

Notable former players

William Thomas Harcourt Davies (6 caps)Also played rugby league for Wales and Great Britain. Was the second winner of the Lance Todd Trophy when playing for Bradford Northern in Rugby League Challenge Cup Final 1947. Bryn Evans

Bryn Evans (rugby player born 1902)

Daniel Brinley 'Bryn' Evans was a Welsh international rugby union scrum-half who played for Wales and Swansea.-Rugby career:...

 (1 cap) Haydn Tanner

Haydn Tanner

Haydn Tanner was a Welsh international rugby union player who also played for the British and Irish Lions and the Barbarians....

(25 caps 13 as Captain and 1 British Lions test in 1939 - South Africa) Doug Rees (3 caps)1968 Clive Griffiths (1 cap) 1979 and Wales Defence Coach in 2005 Grand Slam