PENCAMPWYR - Dan 10 yw Tîm yr Wyl

Teithiodd y Dan 10 i'r Fro ar gyfer gwyl rygbi flynyddol Y Bont-faen. Yn ôl yr arfer roedd croeso cynnes, ac ôl gwaith caled yn llwyfannu'r diwrnod felly diolch yn fawr iawn am ein cael ni, ac i'r holl glybiau oedd yno.

Wrth gyrraedd ac asesu'r amserlen mi gymerodd yr hyfforddwyr anadl ddofn. Tîm 1 Y Bont-faen fyddai ein gêm gyntaf, ac mae nhw'n gallu chwarae. Nesaf, RTB Glyn Ebwy ac mi ddysgodd rygbi ysgolion ddigon i mi am dimau o'r cymoedd. Yna St Peters i orffen.

Os oedd y Dan 10 braidd yn ofnus o chwarae tîm wedi ei hyfforddi gan y cyn-Lew Simon Easterby, wnaethon nhw ddim dangos hynny. Yn chwarae lan y tyle yn yr hanner cyntaf roedd gan Clwb lawer o egni a thechneg taclo da i ysgwyd y gwrthwynebwyr. Roedd hi'n gêm dynn, yn cael ei chwarae o amgylch y ryc, ond mi gafon ni'r gorau o'r ornest yn enwedig pan oedd y bêl yn cael ei lledu gan gyfresi o basio da.

Roedd RTB Glyn Ebwy yn wrthwynebwyr cryf. Ar yr hanner roedd hi'n ddi-sgôr ac yn frwydr bôn braich. Mae'r tîm wedi tueddu chwarae yn fwy uniongyrchol mewn gemau clos diweddar a dyna ddigwyddodd yma tan i benderfyniadau clyfar gwneud defnydd o'r tir agored. Gyda symudiad ola'r gêm, mi groesodd Clwb.

St Peters oedd ein gêm ddiwethaf o'r grwp. O'r gic gyntaf mi arweiniodd un bas at gais i wibiwr y gwrthwynebwyr. O fewn eiliadau mi sgorion nhw eto. Heb golli brwdfrydedd, mi gododd Clwb eu gêm gan ledu'r bêl i gipio cais allweddol cyn troi. Yn yr ail hanner roedd y Dan 10 yn edrych yn dda er yn ei chael hi'n anodd yn erbyn yr amddiffyn corfforol. Mi orffenodd hi'n gyfartal.

Roedd cwblhau'r grwp gyda dwy fuddugoliaeth ac un gêm gyfartal yn ganlyniad arbennig, ac mi orffenodd Clwb ar frig y tabl.

Dyma lle mae'n rhaid nodi nad 'cystadlaethau' sydd mewn rygbi 'mini, ond 'gwyliau'. Felly nid CRCC 'enillodd' y grwp, ac yn yr un modd gwnaeth ein gwrthwynebwyr nesaf ddim 'ennill' eu grwp chwaith felly doedd hi ddim yn 'rownd derfynol' ond yn gêm gyfeillgar yn erbyn y tîm â'r 'canlyniadau' gorau o'r grwp arall. Phew!

Fel sydd wedi cael ei ofyn sawl tro "ydyn nhw'n edrych yn fwy na ni?"...ydyn! Yn chwarae ar dir cartref gydag un o arwyr y Scarlets yn eu hyfforddi ac ambell i fachgen mawr yn y tîm, mi fyddai Y Bont-faen 2 wedi teimlo'n obeithiol. Ond rydyn ni'n dechrau dod yn dda ar hyn. Mi sgoriodd Clwb yn gynnar. Yna gyda'r bêl mewn llaw mi rhedodd Rhydian atyn nhw fel teigr gan chwalu drwy'r llinell amddiffynol i sgorio ail, cyn i'r Bont-faen godi cic gafodd ei chasglu gan Will a ffrwydrodd ei ffordd lan yr asgell am gais arall. Roedd Gruff yn ddiogel o dan bob cic a ddilynodd, gan rhoi'r pwysau yn ôl ar y tîm cartref gyda rhagor o ddadlwytho ynysoedd môr y de!

Mi roedd y Dan 10 wedi cadw eu perfformiad gorau tan y gêm olaf gan ildio dim ond 1 cais. Daeth elfennau o'r gemau cynnar ynghyd, a doedd neb yn hapusach nac Ian (Clwb Rygbi Y Bont-Faen) oedd yn gyfrifol am yr wyl.

Pan ddechreuon ni, sawl blwyddyn yn ôl mi fyddai'r chwaraewyr wastad yn gofyn "pwy enillodd, pwy enillodd" a'r ateb fyddai "rygbi yw'r enillydd" ac mi roedd hi'n grêt cael bod yn rhan o ddiwrnod lle'r oedd hynny'n sicr yn wir.

Lloyd Williams gyflwynodd y medalau (falle eich bod chi'n gofio ei gic letraws yn Twickenham i guro Lloegr yn y cwpan byd diwethaf?), ac mi gafodd 'Tîm y Twrnament' lun wedi cymeryd gyda thlws y 6 Gwlad a'r Gamp Lawn.

Siomedig braidd oedd yr Olé, Olé, Olé ar y diwedd. Nid dyna sut mae dathlu Dan 10. Clwb ydyn ni, a'r gân yw La La La Laaaaaaaaaa.

..........

Today Dan 10 traveled to the Vale for the annual Cowbridge RFC rugby festival. A great welcome was put on as always and clearly, a lot of work had gone into the day so, many thanks to our hosts and all of the clubs who made it.

As we arrived and assessed the schedule, let’s just say the coaches drew a sharp breath. First up, Cowbridge 1, and we know they can play. Next game, RTB Ebbw Vale, schoolboy rugby told me all I need to know about teams from the valleys, and to finish off, St Peters. Gulp.

If D10 were intimidated by seeing Cowbridge being coached by British Lion Simon Easterby, they didn’t show it. Playing uphill for the first half we came out with energy and good tackle technique and rattled them. The game was tight and often played around the fringes, not always our happy hunting ground, but we edged the contest and showed some dominance once we started to move the ball into space a string passes together.

RTB Ebbw Vale RFC also put up a good fight. By half time it was turning into a real arm wrestle at nil-nil. Recently tight games have seen us revert to some one-up rugby and this was evident here. Immediately after half time, the one-up continued but as the half went on, on-field decisions turned to attacking space and with the last act of the match, D10 crossed the line.

St Peter’s RFC was our last pool match, from the kickoff, they made 1 pass and scored through their go-to player, seconds later, they scored again. With no loss of enthusiasm D10 dug in and raised their game again, going to their wide game and pulling back an essential score before the break. In the second half, D10 looked good but struggled with the St Peter’s aggressive defense and forced a draw.

To come through that pool with 2 wins and a draw was a fantastic result for the team and put us at the top of the table.

Now it should be said here that mini rugby has ‘festivals’ and not ‘tournaments’ so no one ‘won’ this group and the team we played next also did not ‘win’ their group so this wasn’t a ‘final’ we were going into, just a cross-pool friendly with ermmm, the team with the best ‘results’ from the other pool (phew).

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again “do they look bigger than us?”….yes they did. With home field advantage, a Scarlets legend as coach and couple of really big boys in their ranks, I’m sure Cowbridge 2 D10 would have fancied their chances against us….but we were getting good at this now. We scored early, an with ball in hand, Rhydian went at them like a tiger scoring a second after bursting through a solid defensive line. Cowbridge then put in a clearing kick, the ball bounced up to halfway where Will gathered and showed a clean pair of heels to their chaser before scorching the touchline to go in for a score. Gruff was lying in wait for subsequent kicks, catching cleanly and putting the pressure back on the home team with more Pacific island offloads.

The best had been saved for last from D10 who finished strongly and only conceded one score in the game. What we saw in patches through the early games came together here and no one seemed happier than Ian (Cowbridge RFC) who ran the event.

When we started out, many years ago with this team, they would ask at the end of every game “who won, who won?” and I would team them “rugby is the winner” and it was great to be part of a festival of rugby where that would be hard to argue with.

So, Lloyd Williams awarded the medals (you might remember him from his grubber kick in Twickenham last world cup?) and the ‘team of the tournament’ got to have their photo taken with the GS trophy.

On the downside, what was all that Olé, Olé, Olé business at the end? That’s not how we do it D10, we are Clwb and we do it like this, La lala laaaaaa……