Treorchy 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 village of Treorchy

Treorchy

Treorchy is a village, although it used to be and still has characteristics of a town, in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, lying in the Rhondda Fawr valley...

, in the Rhondda Valley

Rhondda

Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...

, 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...

. They formed in 1886 and by 1891 were a strong voice in the Welsh Football 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 were playing in the Rhondda Division. Treorchy RFC is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Cardiff Blues

Cardiff Blues

Cardiff Blues are one of the four professional Welsh regional rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, the team have played at Cardiff City Stadium since the start of the 2009/2010 season and are owned by Cardiff Rugby Football Club....

..

Club history

With the industrialisation of the Rhondda, the game of rugby spread through the valley as the growing population looked for social activities to become involved in. Although not the first club to form in the Rhondda, Treochy provided the first international player to represent 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...

 while still playing for a valley club. In the opening game of the 1886 Home Nations Championship

1886 Home Nations Championship

The 1886 Home Nations Championship was the fourth series of the rugby union Home Nations Championship. Five matches were played between 2 January and 13 March 1886. It was contested by England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales...

, Treorchy provided the first 'Rhondda forward' when Sam Ramsey

Sam Ramsey

Samuel "Sam" Ramsey was a Scottish-born rugby union forward who played club rugby for Treorchy and international rugby for Wales...

 was selected to face England

England national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

. Although Ramsey would only win two caps, and the second took a wait of eight years, Treorchy would provide several players throughout their history, including Billy Cleaver

Billy Cleaver

William 'Billy' Cleaver was a Welsh international fly-half who played club rugby for Cardiff. He won 14 caps for Wales and was selected to play in the British Lions on the 1950 tour of Australia and New Zealand...

 who would eventually play for the British Lions

British and Irish Lions

The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...

.

In 1907, Treorchy was accused of throwing a rugby game against Aberdare

Aberdare RFC

Aberdare Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in the town Aberdare in South Wales. Aberdare RFC plays in the Welsh Rugby Union Division Three South East league and is a feeder club for the Cardiff Blues.-Club history:...

, which gave Aberdare the Glamorgan League title. The resulting enquiry by the WRU saw the permanent suspension of Treorchy's entire committee.

As Treorchy finished in the top four of the WRU premier division during the 1994/95 season they were given the privilege of hosting that year's touring international team Fiji.

Club honours

• 1992/93 WRU Division Three - Champions
• 1993/94 WRU Division Two - Champions
• 2008/09 WRU Division Three South East
  WRU Division Three South East
  The Welsh Rugby Union Division Three East is a rugby union league in Wales.- Competition:There are 12 clubs in the WRU Division Three South East...
  
   - Champions

Notable former players

See also :Category:Treorchy RFC players

A. Bishop (1 cap) David Bishop (14 caps) Chris Bridges (7 caps) Gus Broughton Gus Broughton Augustus Stephen "Gus" Broughton was a Welsh rugby union number 8 who played club rugby for Treorchy and Penarth and was capped twice for Wales.-References:...  (2 caps) Billy Cleaver Billy Cleaver William 'Billy' Cleaver was a Welsh international fly-half who played club rugby for Cardiff. He won 14 caps for Wales and was selected to play in the British Lions on the 1950 tour of Australia and New Zealand...  (14 caps) William Cummins William Cummins William 'Will' Cummins was a Welsh international rugby union player who played club rugby union for Treorchy and was capped four times for Wales, all during the 1922 Five Nations Championship.-Rugby career:...  (4 caps) Kevin Ellis David Wyn Evans Luc Evans (1 cap) David Rees James David James (rugby) David Rees James was a Welsh rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1930s who at representative level played rugby union for Wales, and at club level for Treorchy RFC, playing at Hooker, i.e. number 2, and at club level played rugby league for Leeds, playing at , i.e...  (2 caps)

David Morgan Jenkins David Morgan Jenkins David "Dai" Morgan Jenkins was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1920s and '30s. As an amateur union player he represented Kenfig Hill, Treorchy, and Glamorgan Police RFC, while as a professional rugby league footballer he played for...  (4 caps) Emlyn Jenkins Emlyn Jenkins Emlyn Jenkins is a former rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1930s and '40s who at club level has played rugby union for Treorchy RFC and Cardiff RFC, and at representative level has played rugby league for Great Britain, Wales, and England, and at club level for Salford,...  Lyn Jones (5 caps) Percy Jones Percy Jones (rugby player) Percy Jones was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Pontypool and Newport. He was awarded eight caps for Wales and faced the touring with South Africans...  (8 caps) Paul Knight (5 caps) Mark Lewis Mark Lewis (rugby player) Mark Lewis was a rugby union player.A back row player, Mark Lewis came to Pontypridd through the ranks of the Pontypridd Rugby Academy, gaining international honours with Wales at Youth and under 21 level....  (1 cap) S. H. Ramsey Sam Ramsey Samuel "Sam" Ramsey was a Scottish-born rugby union forward who played club rugby for Treorchy and international rugby for Wales...  (2 caps) Lewis Rees Lewis Rees Lewis "Lou"/"Lew" Morgan Rees was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer of the 1930s and '40s who at representative level played rugby union for Wales, and at club level for Treorchy RFC, and Cardiff RFC, playing at Flanker, i.e...  Morgan Stoddart Morgan Stoddart Morgan Lloyd Stoddart is a Welsh international rugby union player. His usual position is at fullback.He currently plays for Welsh regional side the Scarlets and plays international rugby for Wales.- Treorchy RFC :... (2 caps)

Games played against international opposition

Year	Date	Opponent	Result	Score	Tour
1995	1 November		Loss	14-70	1995 Fiji tour of Wales