The Llandovery seven-a-side heroes of 1979 were all reunited to a man at Church Bank recently on the occasion of the SRC quarter-final between the Drovers and Pontypool, writes Huw S Thomas.
A little less sprightly of gait, some with more facial hair and others with none at all, bespectacled or not, they all came together to revive old and happy days together and remember Saturday, April 21 in 1979.
On that day, 46 years ago, Llandovery had created quite a shock when they beat all comers to win the WRU National District F sevens at Gorseinon.
In 1979, Llandovery were just a Section D side in the West Wales Rugby Union league, but they beat a raft of higher ranked sides under the captaincy of club full-back Tony Williams to make it a memorable year for the Tywi Valley club.
The club also gained promotion to Section C of the WWRU Championship for the 1979-1980 season, as well as win the District F sevens in style, in front of formidable Tumble and Hendy.
“We were all local boys in our early, mid twenties – three of us from Cynghordy – and had played together for a while,” said skipper, Tony Williams,
“There were only eight in our squad so we had plenty of rugby from first to last but there was a lovely balance of hardness, deftness and speed to get us home.
“To think that we are all still here 46 years later, still Llandovery to the core and still able to get to Church Bank to support the boys is more than we can have hoped for.”
On the Thursday April 19 1979 - just two days before the sevens tournament in Gorseinon - Williams, brothers John and Handel Davies, Geraint Williams, Dai Thomas, Nigel Clarke, Alan Walters and Wyn Morgan had all played in the 15-a-side 19-0 win over Penygroes.
Shaking off all aches, bruises and pains, they then went on to beat Waunarlwydd and three Section B sides in Llandybie, Penclawdd and Loughor to be crowned champions.
Speedy little John Davies got a brace of tries in the 22-9 win over Waunarlwydd and did the same in the 16-10 defeat of favourites Llandybie.
Both hard running skipper Williams and skilled lin- out forward Nigel Clarke got two tries apiece against Penclawdd in the 28-4 semi-final win before Loughor were edged out 18-10 in the final, teenage centre Geraint Williams crossing for two tries.
Scrum-half Handel Davies ended up top points scorer with two tries and seven conversions - 22 points – but it was a huge team effort given the demand of having played a full 15-a-side game two days before.