Risca Rugby Football Club is a Welsh

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...

 rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 club based in Risca

Risca

Risca is a town of approximately 11,500 people in South Wales, within the Caerphilly County Borough and the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It is today part of the Newport conurbation , though it is not a Ward of Newport City Council...

, Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:...

. 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 Newport Gwent Dragons

Newport Gwent Dragons

Newport Gwent Dragons are one of the four professional Rugby Union regional teams in Wales. They are jointly owned by Newport RFC and the Welsh Rugby Union and play all their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12, the Anglo-Welsh Cup and the Heineken Cup...

.

Club history

Risca RFC was formed in 1875 when a group of workers from Risca Quarry decided to put away six pence a week until they could afford sport jerseys and a rugby ball. The team was given permission to play on the Church House Field opposite the local Church House Hotel. The initial games were played against scratch sides and there are no recorded results. During the late 19th Century, the Church ground was purchased by the local council and the team was forced to move. The nearest ground was in Pontymister

Pontymister

Pontymister is a small village in Caerphilly county borough in Wales.-History:Originally a farm called Tŷ Isaf, the village came about as a need for housing for the local steel mill and chemical works workforces. Most houses were built in 1920 - 1925.Pontymister steel works was famous for being...

, and the club decided to change its name to Pontymister Rovers to reflect their new location. The Rovers team was one of the more successful clubs in the Monmouthshire area, and this was reflected in 1898

1898 Home Nations Championship

The 1898 Home Nations Championship was the sixteenth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Five matches were played between 5 February and 2 April. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales....

, when the team produced its first ever international player, Joseph Booth

Joseph Booth (rugby player)

Joseph "Joe" Booth was a Welsh-born rugby union forward who originally played club rugby for Pontymister and international rugby for Wales. Booth later joined West Hartlepool R.F.C...

. Although Booth only won a single cap for Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

, the fact that a player from the area was chosen at all was a high achievement during a period where only a handful of city clubs dominated Welsh selection.

In 1906 the club moved to the Stores Ground and re-established themselves as Risca RFC. In 1961 the club opened a purpose built clubhouse at the ground, which was superseded in 1998 by a modern sport and leisure centre.

Risca RFC won the 2009-10 Division 4 East title on 18th May 2010 and won promotion to Division 3 East.

Notable past players

Joseph Booth

Joseph Booth (rugby player)

Joseph "Joe" Booth was a Welsh-born rugby union forward who originally played club rugby for Pontymister and international rugby for Wales. Booth later joined West Hartlepool R.F.C...

 (1 cap) Archibald "Archie" Brown

Archie Brown (rugby)

Archibald "Archie" Brown was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1910s and '20s who at representative level played rugby union for Wales, and at club level for Cross Keys RFC, Risca RFC, and Newport RFC, playing at Scrum-half, i.e...

 David "Dai" L. Jones

David Jones (rugby born circa-1901)

David "Dai" L. Jones was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1920s who at representative level played rugby union for Wales, and at club level for Ebbw Vale RFC, Risca RFC, and Newport RFC, playing at Prop, i.e. number 1 or 3, and at club level played rugby league ...

 Tom Roberts

Tom Roberts (rugby player)

Thomas "Tom" Roberts was a Welsh international rugby union player who played club rugby for Risca and Newport...

 (9 caps) William "Buller" Williams

William Henry Williams (rugby player)

William Henry "Buller" Williams was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Pontymister RFC; and represented Wales...

 (4 caps)

Club honours

• WRU Plate finalist 2008/09 - Runners up
• WRU Division Four East
  WRU Division Four East
  The Welsh Rugby Union Division Four East is a rugby union league in Wales.-Competition:There are 12 clubs in the WRU Division Four East...
  
  2009/10 - Champions