International inspiration for Sir Gar

New cap Josh Adams joins Scott Williams, Gareth Davies and Samson Lee as former players in the team to face
Scotland, with Aled Davies among the replacements. With at least one point needed from their final regular season game against Gower College to make the play-offs, Evans will be using the success of his recent alumni to inspire his players.

“It is fantastic to have so many of our former players playing for Wales and it proves we must be doing something right. Josh has had to battle to get to this level, but we never had any doubts about his ability,” said Evans.

“He suffered a bit of a knock when he left the Scarlets and moved to Worcester, but they have done a great job with him. He was always a great try scorer and he has proved that at the highest level in the English game this season by topping the Premiership scoring chart.

“A lot of hard work has gone into devising our rugby programme at Sir Gar and linking it in to the needs of the Scarlets and the players. Kevin George, the Scarlets Academy Manager, is one of the unsung heroes in everything that has been achieved by our Under 18 teams at regional level.

“The incentive and the pathway is there for all these players if they want to become professional players – Josh and the rest of the international players prove that.”

Adams was in the 2013 Sir Gar that won the Colleges League at the Principality Stadium. It is interesting to note just how many players from the two teams have made the grade since then. Adams is set to become the third full Welsh international after teammate Ryan Elias and Dillon Lewis and Seb Davies, from Coleg Morgannwg.

Tomas Williams is another who is in the current Welsh squad, while there are a number of other regional players. The Sr Gar trio of Will Boyde, Dan Jones and Tom Phillips are all on the Scarlets books, while Aled Summerhill, Jared Evans and Harri Millard are with Cardiff Blues and Liam Belcher is at the Dragons.
 

Ysgol Glantaf will be hoping to use home advantage to overcome Coleg Gwent to clinch a home draw in the semi-finals. Coleg Y Cymoedd are already guaranteed a home draw and the winners of the game at Glantaf will probably take the second spot.

It is a pretty congested period for age grade competitions with the Regional Age Grade U18 and U16 tournaments also taking place. The Scarlets have already won the Under 18 title, but they suffered their first defeat of the season this week when they were beaten 31-22 by the Ospreys at Parc Y Scarlets.

It was a magnificent display by the Ospreys who matched the champions try for try on their own patch. Outside half Josh Thomas got one of the four for the visitors and also converted them all and kicked a penalty for a match tally of 16 points.

The other Ospreys tries came from hooker Cameron Lewis, flanker Joe Grabham and scrum half Dan Hiscocks. The home side had two tries from wing Alex Varney, one from scrum half Dai Jones and another from wing Harri Dole.

The Ospreys win came on the back of a 13-10 home win over Blues South, who had been beaten 39-29 by the Scarlets, and a 24-19 triumph at the Arms Park over Blues North. RGC 1404 used home advantage to good effect to beat the Dragons 17-10 and Blues South 25-15.

FIXTURES FOR WEDNESDAY, 31 JANUARY
Welsh Schools & Colleges League – Round 12
Coleg Llandrillo v Cardiff & Vale College
Pembs Rugby v Bridgend College
Coleg Sir Gar v Gower College
Neath Port Talbot College v Llandovery College
Newport HS v Whitchurch HS
Ysgol Glantaf v Coleg Gwent

RAG U18
Blues South v Dragons

RAG U16
Blues South v Ospreys West
Dragons North v Ospreys East
Scarlets East v Blues North