Article by Delme Parfitt. Courtesy of South Wales Echo

Rumney's surge to the higher echelons of Welsh rugby is one of the success stories of the 90s. Players like Steve Ford, Glenn George and Nigel Bezani have all played their part in steering the Riverside Park team to its position in Division One.

They managed eighth spot last time around and are targeting a top six finish come May 2000 and coach Les Brown is confident his team have the tools to improve. "Last season we made a great start, winning our first five games and then we had a few injuries and a couple of problems off the field and we fell away after that" said Brown, who goes into his fourth season at the club. "We really suffered when we lost Steve Ford to injury and once we faltered it was difficult to get things back on track. We have to aim higher than mid table this season and we have a squad capable of finishing in the top six".

The Cardiff side have bolstered their pack with the signing of prop forward Matthew Davey from Caerphilly, hooker Peter Bennett from Pontypool and back row operator Jon Morris from Merthyr who will be at the club until Christmas when he leaves to play in New Zealand.

Among the backs former Pontypridd centre Simon Enoch should add colour to the midfield although scrum half Keith Lee has quit the game because of work commitments. "Training really has gone superbly in pre-season" said Brown, "We have had brilliant turn outs. In fact at times we have been getting in excess of 44 players. With numbers like that we have every reason to be optimistic".

Rumney may not be one of the strongest sides in Division One but they do have a reputation for playing an attractive brand of rugby. "We scored a lot of bonus points last season and ran in quite a few tries" said 52 year old Brown, a former coach with Blackwood and Pontypridd. "An expansive style is what we will try to concentrate on again this term. We want to make the same sort of start as we made last year but see the job through this time. Gareth Downes at scrum half will be very important for us as will Simon Enoch and our player-coach Glenn George who is a catalyst in the pack. A top six place could well be very important next term because you just don't know what is going to happen from one season to the next in terms of restructuring. Then there are financial implications to consider as well. This is a good club but it does suffer from poor crowds unlike clubs in the valleys such as Merthyr but I suppose that is because we are competing against Cardiff and others in the city".