History of Newport RFC :: 1874

"During their long history Newport have played teams from all parts of the world, but to the best of my knowledge today will mark the first appearance at Rodney Parade of the Romanians."

"Rugby in Romania has, of course, made rapid strides since the end of the Second World War, and their national team have figured prominently in World and European Cup competitions."

"Indeed, a number of former Welsh internationals will have rueful memories of matches against the Romanians, who twice registered victories in two of their five matches against the Welsh national team."

"In November 1983 Wales crashed to a 24-6 defeat in Bucharest, where their pack was completely outplayed. Not for 14 years had Wales suffered such a heavy defeat against what was then a non-International Board country."

"Five years later the Romanians again humbled Wales, this time at Cardiff, where they won 15-9. England, however, went to Bucharest and chalked up a 58-3 victory over Romania, who fielded 14 players who had defeated Wales."

"Jeremy Guscott, incidentally, made his debut for England in this match, and he celebrated his selection by scoring a hat-trick of tries."

"Wales later gained their revenge over the Romanians, whom they defeated 16-9 in Bucharest and 70-21 at Wrexham. Romania have taken part in the last two World Cups at the Pool stage. They defeated Zimbabwe in Auckland in 1987 and Fiji at Brive in 1992."

"The present Romanian team have some excellent and experienced players, and Newport can expect to find the going hard against what appears to be formidable opposition."

"the SOUTH WALES Argus"

"By Robin Davey"

"(Chief rugby writer South Wales Argus)"

"The future of Newport Rugby Club lies in good hands. Successive teams may not have achieved much for some years, but the tide appears to be turning, however slowly."

"Take the team which played against leading South African province Gauteng Falcons in the WRU Challenge Trophy last Sunday as an example. At full back was Gareth King, Scott Mitchell was at outside half and Alix Popham featured in the back row. In addition, Neil McKim went on as a replacement on the wing. They all had one thing in common - they were members of last year's highly successful Newport Youth side. Yet they were taking on and helping to beat the fifth ranked province in South Africa, whose players were, in the main, huge physical specimens. Such an experience can only stand these Newport youngsters in good stead for a future which should be increasingly rosy."

"Two more members of last Sunday's team, centre Matthew Watkins and scrum half Dale Burn, are in only their second full season in senior rugby. Watkins is already an ever-present in the Newport first team, and he scored a wonderful solo try against Gauteng Falcons, wrongfooting a series of defenders in a weaving 45-yard run to the line. He clearly has a bright future in the game, and so does Popham, still only 19 but uniquely capped at four different levels in schools and youth rugby last season and now mixing it regularly with senior players in the heat of the forward battle."

"There may be some weaknesses, like King's defence, like Mitchell's kicking, like Burn's waywardness, while Watkins is prone to hang on to the ball a second too long, but these are all things which can be worked on and under the guidance of director of rugby Allan Lewis, a Wales backs selector, they can only improve. At least Newport possess these young assets, just as they have assets of a more general nature. The problem appears to be convincing the Welsh Rugby Union that they are worth investing in."

The match programme also included an article by Newport's Chief Executive, Tony Brown, on the campaign by clubs to secure preferrment by the WRU for an Anglo-Welsh League. It is reproduced in the Season 1998-99 entry on this site.