Tonna Rugby Football Club is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

team from the village of Tonna,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Tonna RFC is a member of the

Welsh Rugby Union The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby. The WRU is responsible for the running of rugby in Wales, ove ...

and is a

feeder club In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, or nursery club is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful players can move on to a higher ...

for the

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

History

Although it is believed that Tonna RFC existed before 1888, the club was first mentioned during the 1887/88 season, when the Cambria Daily Reader stated that Tonna RFC were drawn to play

Mynydd-bach Mynydd-Bach or Mynydd-bach is a suburban district and community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, It falls within the coterminous Mynydd-Bach ward. The name Mynydd-Bach ("little mountain") refers to a small plateau, centred about nort ...

in the local

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and community situated in the Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,258 in 2011. Historica ...

cup challenge. It is therefore regarded that Tonna RFC came into being on 28 February 1888. Tonna RFC's first international player was

David Harris Davies David Harris Davies (27 October 1877 – 30 September 1944) was a Welsh international rugby union forward who played club rugby for Neath and county rugby for Glamorgan. He won a single international cap, selected to play for Wales in 1904. Rug ...

. Although he played for

Neath RFC Neath Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Castell-Nedd) is a Welsh rugby union club which plays in the WRU Championship. The club's home ground is The Gnoll, Neath. The team is known as the All Blacks because of the team colours: black with on ...

at the time of his one and only

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

against Scotland in 1904, he came through the playing ranks of Tonna. The club disbanded after the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, but reformed as Dulais United after the war ended. This team was an amalgamation of local villages Tonna,

Aberdulais Aberdulais is a village and electoral ward in Neath Port Talbot, Wales, lying on the River Neath, in the community of Blaenhonddan. The village grew around the Aberdulais Falls, the site of successive industries and now a hydro-electric statio ...

, Cadoxton, and Cilfrew but the team was still housed in Tonna.

Notable players

Full Senior Internationals *

- Neath RFC (1 cap)''Fields of Praise, The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union 1881-1981'', David Smith, Gareth Williams (1980) pp464 *

Arthur Lemon Arthur Whitelock Lemon (15 April 1905 – 28 May 1982) was a Welsh international number 8 who played club rugby for Neath and was capped 13 times for Wales, then later switched codes to play rugby league for St Helens when he found that he had b ...

- Neath RFC (13 caps) *

Martyn Davies Martyn may refer to: *Martyn (surname), one of the Tribes of Galway and others *Martyn (given name) See also *Martin (disambiguation) *Marten (disambiguation) *Martin of Tours Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 Nov ...

- Neath RFC (1 Cap) * Alan Edmunds- Aberavon RFC,Neath RFC (2 caps) * Craig Mitchell Neath RFC, Ospreys, Exeter Chiefs, Cardiff Blues, Newport Gwent Dragons, Bath (15 caps) * Leigh Davies Neath RFC, Cardiff RFC, Bristol RFC, Ospreys, Llanelli Scarlets (Captain) - 21 Caps * *

Doug Phillips (rugby) Douglas Versailles Phillips (28 June 1919 – 28 April 2000) was a Welsh rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. He played representative level rugby union for Glamorgan (two occasions), and at c ...

Douglas V Phillips Rugby League International Oldham RLFC, Broughton Park Rangers RLFC Belle Vue RLFC. 9 Wales RL Caps & 4 Great Britain Caps (including 1950 Series win in Australia) * * Barbarians RFC Martyn Davies (Neath RFC), Chris Gittins (Aberavon RFC)

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20130206182838/http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/tonnarfc {{Rugby Wales links Welsh rugby union teams 1888 establishments in Wales Rugby clubs established in 1888 Rugby union in Neath Port Talbot