History of Newport RFC :: 1874

"Newport Rugby Club's newly formed under-21 team is in good hands, for one of the men primarily responsible for the development of the up and coming young players is that sterling stalwart Rhys Morgan, who made 538 first team appearances, a total which would have been considerably higher had it not been for illness and a serious neck injury which finally hastened his retirement."

"Former prop forward Rhys Morgan was Newport United's coach for three years, and he has just taken over the coaching duties for the under-21 players. He is well equipped for that task, for he has a wealth of experience behind him."

"At his peak he was widely regarded as one of the most effective scrum-magers in the business and during his long association with Newport - it stretches back more than twenty years - he played for Wales in the five-nations championship, for Wales B against France, and for the Barbarians, Crawshay XV, and, of course, Monmouthshire."

"No player has given Newport more loyal service than Rhys since he made his debut for the first team in 1973 after spending three years in the Youth and United teams. A former captain of the first team, he helped Newport to reach the final of the Welsh cup three times, the first ending in triumph over their old rivals, Cardiff."

"The Rodney Parade followers always admired his pluck and determination not to give in easily to serious injuries, and they will certainly wish him well as he strives to accelerate the progress of the young "hopefuls" and prepare them for promotion."

"London Scottish are the second team of Scots to play at Rodney Parade in successive seasons. Last season Glasgow High/Kelvinside were the visitors and they held Newport to a draw, each side scoring 22 points. Newport might well have had two Scots, Craig Chalmers and Shaun McGauchie, playing for them today. At the start of the season Chalmers seemed interested in moving south, but he decided to stay north of the border. McGauchie, who played for Newport, also changed his mind about staying in Gwent when he completed his studies at a Cardiff College."

"Meanwhile, Newport succeeded in checking their Heineken League slump at Aberavon, who they deservedly defeated 42-20 to register their fifth league victory. Fleet-footed left wing Andrew Lewis acheived the distinction of scoring the team's first hat-trick of the campaign. He has now scored nine tries in as many league matches, and Jonathan Westwood is moving towards a century of points. He brought his total to 84 at Aberavon."

"WELCOME, LONDON SCOTTISH . . ."

"London Scottish, who are making their first visit to Rodney Parade, have enjoyed two notable successes during the past three years. In 1989 they won the cham?pionship of England's Courage League third division, and last season they finished champions of the second division, an achievement which raised them to first divi?sion status. They also won the national sevens, beating Rugby, Orrell, Bath and Leicester last season."

"The Scots are coached by one of Britain's former outstanding players - Alastair McHarg, who played for Scotland in 44 international matches, including nine against Wales, between 1968 and 1978. During that period McHarg, who captained London Scottish and Surrey and also played for Exeter in the English county championship, became his country's most capped lock forward."

"Leading London Scottish this season is Richard Cramb and among the newcomers this season are centre Ron Eriksson, who has joined from the Harlequins, and Logan Mair, formerly of Waterloo. All last season's regulars are again with the club, who have high hopes of young half back David Millard gaining further representative honours. He was in the Scotland squad who toured Australia during the summer, along with Damian Cronin."

"Cronin joined London Scottish from Bath halfway through last season, and made his debut for them against Gloucester in the Pilkington Cup. He played for Bath for seven seasons, and during that period he won 19 Scotland caps."

"London Scottish, of course, have other internationals in their squad, including Paul Burnell and Derek White, who both played for Scotland against Wales at Cardiff last season and have big collections of caps. The Scots also have a reliable full back in Mark Appleson, an accurate kicker and a strong runner who wastes no opportunity to link up with his three-quarters in attacking moves."

"London Scottish, incidentally, have taken the place of relegated Nottingham on Newport's fixture list this season. Back in September they defeated Nottingham and then went on to beat Gloucester, who had Scottish international flank forward Tim Smith in their side. They later lost narrowly to Orrell and Bristol, but they gave an outstanding performance against the Harlequins, who they held to a 22-22 draw on the latter's ground."