Ruthin Rugby Football Club is a 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...

 team from the town of Ruthin

Ruthin

Ruthin is a community and the county town of Denbighshire in north Wales. Located around a hill in the southern part of the Vale of Clwyd - the older part of the town, the castle and Saint Peter's Square are located on top of the hill, while many newer parts of the town are on the floodplain of...

, North 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...

. Ruthin RFC presently play in 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...

 Division Four North League and is a feeder club for the Llanelli Scarlets

Llanelli Scarlets

The Scarlets are one of the four professional Welsh regional rugby union teams. Based in Llanelli, south-west Wales the team play at the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12, as well as competing in the LV= Cup and the Heineken Cup...

..

Club history

A rugby club was first formed in Ruthin in the 1920s but this early club eventually folded in 1933 and was not reformed until the 1960s. Ever since then Ruthin has been one of the premier clubs in North Wales and has produced a number of players for North Wales and other representative teams. The list of honours below highlight that the club had successful side in the 1970s and many from that Ruthin team are still actively involved in the club.

Ruthin returned to Division 4 North in the 2006-7 season after 2 years in Division 3 South East. The club were not relegated, but elected to return to the North Wales league in advance of a decision by the WRU that they would not have been able to play in the South Wales leagues in 2007. Ruthin had gained promotion to Division 3 in 2004 after winning the league in North Wales and the 2005-06 North Wales Cup under two of the most successful coaches Ruthin have had in Paul Threlfall and Russell Penrhyn Jones, both former players. They guided the club to their first North Wales league win for almost 30 years, this highlighted the clubs leading position in North Wales. Having lost over 15 players due to injury, retirement and transfers at the end of the 2005-06 season, 2006-07 was one of rebuilding and a number of promising young players have emerged to take the club forward in the next few years. Winning the North Wales Cup again in 2007-08 was a notable achievement for Ruthin's young side.
For the 2009/2010 season Rhuthun returned to wearing the original Blue and White hoop kit for the club 10th anniversary after returning in 1999,the current away kit is a pink and white hoop kit.

Former players of note

In 1992, James Salisbury became the first Ruthin produced player to earn a Welsh Youth Cap and after playing for Liverpool St Helens and Widnes RL. Two other members include Eifion Lewis-Roberts and Rob Higgitt

Rob Higgitt

Rob Higgitt is a Welsh rugby union centre.Born in St Asaph, Denbighshire, Higgitt began his rugby career with Ruthin, for whom his father was the chairman. He played for Ruthin from the age of 6 until he was 18, when he enrolled at the University of Bath...

 who are recent first team players and products of Ruthins youth system. Lewis-Roberts plays in the Top 14 for Toulon

Toulon

Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....

 and Higgitt plays for the Sale after having played for Scarlets for several years. Lewis-Roberts is the first former Ruthin player to have donned a Wales senior team

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...

 shirt when he made his debut appearance against Canada in November 2008. Hollywood actor Rhys Ifans

Rhys Ifans

Rhys Ifans is a Welsh actor and musician. He is known for his portrayal of characters such as Spike in Notting Hill and Jed Parry in Enduring Love and as a member of the Welsh rock groups Super Furry Animals and The Peth. Ifans also appeared as Xenophilius Lovegood in Harry Potter and the Deathly...

 is also a product of the clubs youth system having played mini-rugby for Ruthin along with his brother Llŷr

Llyr Ifans

Llŷr Ifans, is a Welsh actor, born in Ruthin, Wales. He is the younger brother of actor Rhys Ifans.Like his brother, he is a Welsh-language speaker...

.

Club honours

Welsh Rugby Union National Sevens Group Finals Winners 1967

North Wales Club Championship 1972/73, 1974/75, 1976/77, 2003/04

North Wales Cup 1971/72, 1972/73, 1974/75, 1976/77, 2005/06, 2007/08

North Wales (District J) 1973/74, 1976/77, 1984/85, 2005/06

North Wales (District J) Sevens Shield 1974/75, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1980/81

Machynlleth Sevens 2006/07