Category: Club News

As we know there is a big game happening  this week up the M4 at Twickenham where we will all be supporting Wales wholeheartedly but did you know there is another way to you can support Wales? That is by giving blood.

All at the club are backing the Welsh Blood Service’s latest campaign to get more donors signed up and existing donors to return.

Blood donations in January  were enough to help 21,000 patients in Wales

When is your next blood donation?

More than 800  appointments have been added for Carmarthenshire  in  March & April

Take a minute to see when we are next in your area and book to give blood @   https://wbs.wales/CarmarthenQuins

If you are O- , please make every effort to attend

Roedd rhoddion gwaed ym mis Ionawr yn ddigon i helpu hyd at 21,000 o gleifion ar draws Cymru

Pryd ydych chi i fod i roi eich rhodd nesaf o waed?

Mae mwy na 800  o apwyntiadau wedi cael eu hychwanegu ar gyfer Sir Gâr  ym mis  Mawrth & Ebril

Cymrud munud i weld pan fyddwn ni yn eich ardal nesaf a bwcio i rhoi gwaed @ https://wbs.wales/CarmarthenQuins

Os ydych chi’n O- , dylech wneud pob ymdrech i fynchu.

With the Six Nations on the horizon and starting this weekend when Wales travel to Ireland the club is inviting anyone not travelling to Ireland to come and join us in any of our plush rooms with enough screens for you to watch the game without restriction.

We are also opening our upstairs function room which can be viewed below which has two big screens available for the game.

Your winners of the January draw of the 150 Club are as follows:

January 2022
 £150 – No      38  –   Mr R Evans

Carmarthen Quins is delighted and proud with the recent announcements on professional rugby contracts for the Wales Women’s team that has seen former Quins girls  players recognised.

Firstly  Alisha Butchers has secured a professional rugby contract with the Welsh Rugby Union.  Alisha is no stranger to the club having played for the Quins Girls Under 15’s team previously as well as helping out behind the  bar of the club. With dedication and drive she has now been rewarded with one of the first professional contracts offered by the Welsh Rugby Union.

Secondly Bethan Lewis has secured a retainer contract which will allow Bethan to be able to concentrate on International training more. Bethan started out with the Quins when she was six and continued up the ranks and continued to play for the Quins girls Under 15’s and Under 18’s teams. Again the dedication has rightly brought about a just reward.

All at the club would like to wish both girls and their colleagues the very best of luck in this years Six Nations Tournament and beyond. Go for it Ladies!!

The club is delighted to see the Welsh Squad announced earlier today. Within that squad are a number of players who have pulled on the Cardinal, Amber and Black of the Mighty Quins as they learned their trade to get where they rightly deserve to be.

Congratulations to Gareth Thomas (56 Quins Appearances), Ryan Elias (45 Quins Appearances) and Kieran Hardy (55 Quins Appearances)  who played for the club and like others go to show that the Premiership is ideal preparation for the step up to professional rugby.  There were also fleeting Quins appearances for Rhys Priestland who wore the Quins shirt in 2005/2006 on 6 occasions.

In addition we would like to offer our sincere congratulations to James Ratti of Cardiff Rugby who has been called in as an uncapped player. The surname of course is no stranger to the Quins but how many of us know that James is the grand son of former 1xt XV player and Captain Richard Ratti? Richard played for the firsts between 1974 and 1991 at prop or number 8 and played 109 games for the club. Richard was captain in the 1978/1979 season and then shared the captaincy in 1987/1988.

We wish all the players the very best of luck in this years tournament and we know you will do yourselves and your country proud.

It is with great sadness that the club has to announce the passing of committee member Mr David Lloyd.  Dai passed away peacefully on Tuesday 4th January. A long serving committee member Dai loved to follow the Quins and prior to the pandemic was seen at home and away games.

Club Chairman Jeff Davies, paid this respect “For the club to lose a committee man with over 25 years service to the club is extremely sad. Dai contributed not only in meetings but during home games at the park and at least once a season would arrange a sponsors table for him and guests to support the club. We pass on our sincere condolences to all of Dai’s family and friends.”

It is a sad but our thoughts from all at the club are with Dai’s family. We will advise of the funeral arrangements when they are available.

The Funeral arrangements are as follows:

24th January 2022, 11am a public service will be held on the yard of Dai’s Farm followed by a private cremation.

The club is saddened to hear of the sudden passing of Rhys Lewis after he had bravely fought a cruel and devastating illness the past few  years.

Rhys represented the second XV on numerous occasions in the late 1970’s early 1980’s. Rhys played on the wing in  very talented sides and and will be remembered fondly by his team mates from back in the day and the club. Son in law of former Honorary Secretary Doug Vizard, Rhys will be missed by wife Karen, daughter Rachel, son Gareth and the rest of the family.

All at the club are deeply saddened and we would like to pass on our sincerest condolences. We will advise of the funeral details when they become available.

The original plan was to hold a live draw after the Llandovery game on Boxing Day but as we know that game has been postponed so Graeme has undertake the December draw and the winners are:

Hot on the heels of donating two Christmas Hampers to our friendly care home Plas Y Dderwen the Quins were lucky enough to receive a further five hampers courtesy of the Scarlets Community Foundation.

As always the Quins asked for nominations from supporters for worthy recipients and there were no shortage of nominations. Following deliberations the recipients of the hampers were:

Carmarthenshire People First

Carmarthenshire People First is located in Spilman Street and is an independent charity promoting independent advocacy, support and training for adults with learning disabilities, based in Carmarthenshire.

Two hampers were presented by Paula (Quins Sponsorship) and husband Colin (Club Hon Secretary) to Simon and Wendy who are clients of the nominated charity, Carmarthenshire People First. Simon Rice is a previous match day photographer for the Quins and also acted as photographer for a number of other functions such as black tie events at the Club. The charity has used the club for annual events and Christmas dinners and Carmarthen RFC are pleased to recognise a long-standing partner in the community.

The photos were taken in the Debenhams building and also present were the Charity’s Managers, namely, Sarah Mackintosh and Ruth Lewis. Both Sarah and Ruth expressed their gratitude for being considered, particularly at this time of year and in the current circumstances, and asked to pass on their thanks and best wishes to everyone at the Quins.

Accident and Emergency Unit – Glangwili Hospital

Following an awful year that has affected everyone the A and E Department was nominated by club record point scorer Giles Thomas for the work that they have done and always do tirelessly to treat those of us unfortunate enough to need a visit.

As the winter continues and the pressures on the hospital increase the club felt it was a good nomination and delivered a hamper on Christmas Eve.

Chemotherapy Unit, Glangwili Hospital

Another deserving nomination for a unit that has one of the toughest roles within the NHS in administrating the treatment to individuals. When we dropped off the hamper on Christmas Eve there was nothing but smiles and we can imagine that this puts patients at ease and the staff should be commended.

The unit was nominated by Sue Evans.

Betty Rees

Our final nomination was Betty Rees who has experienced an awful year losing both her son and husband during the year. The nomination was received by former  Carmarthen resident Michael Williams who is former neighbour of Betty and asked if the Quins could possibly provide some Christmas Cheer. We were only too happy to deliver a hamper to spread the cheer.

It is only something small but we pride ourselves on being part of the community and try to give  something back whenever we can particularly at these times.

Thank you to everyone who nominated and we are sorry if yours didn’t get selected but they were all worthy recipients and it was a difficult decision.

Hello to all our supporters and their families. Well we end the year almost in the same situation as we did last year, under restrictions. We can all be thinking when will it ever end! After a few months of being able to see you and speak to you at the park or in the clubhouse a new variant of coronavirus has scuppered that, at least for the time being.

As you know the Boxing Day derby game against Llandovery has been postponed and we await further guidance from the Welsh Rugby Union on future fixtures and whether they will go ahead behind closed doors as stipulated by Welsh Government. When we have more news on  this we will bring it to you on all our media platforms.

Its been a turbulent year just as 2020 was but we have come through the other side albeit with a struggle sometimes. Thankfully we have seen some rugby and our seniors have had some good victories that see us currently lying third in the table and in the cup quarter final draw. Let’s just hope that we can continue with the season but only with the safety of the players in mind. Our newly formed youth team are also performing well and are giving a good account of themselves in all games against some bigger and older teams.

Our mini and junior section continue to thrive with vast numbers and through the dedication of a small committee, coaches, team managers and parents alike we hope that the conveyor belt of talent continues.  Our under 12’s, 13’s, 15’s and 16’s are all through to the Carmarthenshire Cup Semi Finals with the under 14’s in the Plate semi finals. We hope that rugby can return early in the new year to allow these fixtures to take place. I am sure that when they do may supporters will be there to cheer you on.

Over the past year the club has unfortunately lost some of its members and it is with sadness that we remember them but we must also remember them with fond memories especially for what each of them did for the club in their own way over the years.

My thanks must go to the Committee who have worked tirelessly over the months to ensure the club was ready to open when it was able to and of course to the Mike and Cath and their staff for the work they have done serving us when  they were able to . To all the players, coaching staff and management across the age groups my personal thanks for getting on with it when you can and putting the rugby on for us. Thank you all.

Finally, I would like to sign off and say I hope all our supporters and their families have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year and I hope to see as many of you sooner rather than later.