Rugby

I also played with "willie shakespeare" 72-73 and 73-74 season. Dougie Scarth ,John Jenkins ,Tony O'Brien are others I remember.

Hi Shaun, you were there the same time as me. Who are you??? I remember Dougie was our captain. One of his daughters tragically drowned at Kalafrana Beach Club. It was a very sad time. I remeber John Jenkins well. He was from Resolven and I used to borrow his flight kit when I went up with the Nimrods. Tony O'brien was a big mate of mine in Malta. We did meet up a few times after we left the RAF. The last time I saw him was a few years ago in an Indian restaurant in Newport (South Wales). I would recognise his voice anywhere. Also in the team were Eddie Cloake, Dave (Humph) Humphrey-Evans, John Ponting to name but a few. 

Greetings one and all. The names above are well remembered - others must have dissolved in the mists of time - or of hopleaf!
Was there 72/75 - one of the scrum halves of that era.
 The pitch at Hal Far and the associated changing rooms / clubhouse in one of the old blocks.
The aforesaid Mr Shakespeare had played for a decent uk club, as had Dave H-E (London Welsh is a good bet?). Shakes and fellow plods did a fine job of "advising" a group of us that it was time we left a salubrious establishment on the square in Limassol during a tour to Cyprus!!
Do people recall the hosting of UK teams - there never was a bucket of water behind the bar for the purpose of removing duty free labels from bottles ?
You may also remember Jimmy Glover, former Bristol centre, teaching at Tal Handaq and playing for the expats - he is featured on the Bristol Rugby fans section under the heading "Legends". 
As for inter wing rugby - we recruited a speedy maltese PTI to play on the wing (Eddie Cloake on the other), someone gave him a swift brief on the general rules of the game, but forgot to tell him that part of scoring a try was to touch the ball down - he just kept on running over the deadball line !
Stil remember being headbutted by a wing forward from 41 Commando when I was stupid enought to have kicked him - he was sent off and the guys thought my semi conscious state was a great way to bring them down to 14 men !

I have a pic somewhere that I will attempt to upload,

if someone has more names ( Ian Smith, second row , oc nimrod asf comes to mind) would be good to have them.

Phil Bright ( sometime scrum half and OC TSF )

Another name came to mind,Taff Bryant.He was still playing at age 47.(he kept telling us)Worked in Eng Records,TASF.

Yes indeed - taff was an old b......r even back then!!

don't have a clue how to do it, but would "Malta rugby" be a worthwhile separate thread?

btw, best I could do was put my pic into the profile > it does enlarge, and i hardly recognise myself as the one with the ball !!

Hi Rigger, given your time frame at Eng Recs, do you recal Les Pointer as OIC ?

Hi Phil, I remember being asked to leave that establishment in Limmasol...I was a little reluctant as I had already paid to dance with one of the "hosts"!!! I do remember on that tour to Cyprus being sat in a Nissan Hut watching a movie reel of the now famous Barbarians vs All Blacks match in Cardiff. Taff Bryant was from Abertillery and would annoy opposition as they thought they could outplay the "old man"...he was so safe under the high ball!!!! I think Jim Glover had also played for the Barbarians. I remember they had a magazine in their clubhouse with a photo of him on the cover playing for the Baa-Baas. Where was the photo taken?? Does not look like Hal-Far, Safi or The Marsa. I remember the game when you were "head-butted". If I remember he was a hot tempered Irish guy surprisingly named "Paddy". The ref was Dave ?? Can't remember his surname. Dave Mcallister played in the 2nd row and took over as coach the year I left. I remember Tony O'brien arranging for Abercynon to come and tour. They were staying out at The Salina Bay Hotel and were "asked to leave" after one night!! I think they were then put up in billets.

Hi Phil,Yes I remember Les Pointer.He was my boss when I worked in Eng Rec's.I was posted to Honington from Luqa.The first person I saw on arrival was Les.He tried to get me into Eng Rec's,but,as I had already been posted to 237 OCU he couldn't "have me" ???Our Warrant Officer in Eng Rec's was Mr Penticost.Our Maltese mail man called him"MR PLENTY COST".     Regards,Mike.(Rigger)

Roger, all comments spot on !! the marine was indeed called psycho paddy - totally admire your memory. as for the pic. found it in my dad's effects. suspect it was Marfa sports club? abercynon was indeed the visiting team and the hotel was Salina Bay. Seem to recall that we had to take a week off now and again to recover from skin scraped off legs due to playing on less than soft ground? JG did indeed play for the Barbarians and can still be found running an ice cream shop in Penzance -my brother is there to watch Bristol v Pirates !  

Phil, the reason I remember the "Paddy" incident so well was that for some reason I started the game as referee !! Either I was injured or not selected but the ref did not turn up and I was asked to ref the game. After around 20 minutes the "real" ref turned up and I stood on the touchline. Around ten minutes later Paddy went beserk was sent off he came and stood by me. I remember telling him that I was glad that I did not have to make that decision!! Looking at the photo, most of the opposition seem to have long hair so could be a touring team.

Roger, do you want to reveal your ID ?! pm if you wish.

Guys, I never cease to be amazed by the power of the internet - rugby almost 40 years ago.

Was the real ref called Dave Snaith or something similar - think he was properly qualified etc

Tony O'Brien was a good guy, decent wing forward, and if memory serves, there was a very lovely Mrs O'B  ? !!

Thanks to all who have PM'd.........................doubt that those initials meant the same thing back in the year dot ?!

keep it going

Regards all

Phil

Roger/Phil,

The age gene may have kicked in, but I seem to recall that we had a number of touring sides during '72 - '75. Apart from Abercynon, there were Cardiff High School old boys, Bedford and Moseley (the latter two we took hammerings from not only as the R.A.F Malta team, but as the Island's Combined Services/Civilian team!).

One distinct memory for me was when I bet John Caldicott and someone else a "pint a point in the difference in the scores" when Wales played Ireland late in my tour. We watched the game on RAI in the rugby club. Wales ran riot and I was the winner of 56 pints! Oh the silliness of youth!

Tony, I too recal that we "hosted" a number of touring sides in that era. Seem to think that we put an invitation in Rugby World ?
From your PM, I have a fond memory of managing to tackle Jim Glover - who stood up, patted me on the head and said "Well done - you won't do that again"!
As an aside, after leaving the RAF, and playing in a Sevens tournament, had a similar remark from Andy Irvine (yes that one) - and they were both absolutely correct !
My playing days finished in south Manchester (Heaton Moor RFC)  in my early thirties, when the idea of being totally knackered every saturday night somehow lost its attraction!
Heaton Moor had had a purple patch, and , through winning the Cheshire Cup, gained some rether tasty fixtures. One such was an away match against Herriots FP in Scotland  - as the side was preparing to get on the coach a "committee man", resplendent in club blazer, gave words of advice - "get after their scrum half early and make sure he knows you are at him". Their scrum half was Douggie Morgan, scotland and British Lions - nuff said !! 

Phil, I played a couple of games at flanker rather than my normal centre/wing berth and I too can forever claim that I tackled the aforesaid Mr Glover.
Tony, talking of "the silliness of youth". Do you remember  getting our (ex) wives together while we went "training" at the station gym? We would normally end up in a bar at Marsaxlokk or Marsascala !!!! Not sure how we got away with that one !!!!

1) I have discovered that JG is 12 years older than me - ah well.....!

2) The RBS 6 Nations website currently has the following link:     "Bowden satisfied as welsh women bounce back"  ............perks of the job ??!!!!