Black and Amber Alliance, a regular free newsletter produced by FoNR met up with the new Newport RFC Captain Andrew Coombs recently. We would like to thank him for giving up his time and speaking with us. “Coombsy” is 23 years of age, he has one young step-daughter with another child on the way, he still lives in Nelson and works as a salesman for a computer software company.

Andy played for Newport Youth in his early days but he wasn’t directly offered a contract with Newport RFC, instead being asked to spend a season with Newport Saracens to further develop. He was also offered a contract by Blackwood which he decided to take instead, after just one pre season game Pontypool came in with an offer to join them which he duly accepted. Andy gives great credit to the two coaches he played for at Pontypool Park, Steve “Junnah” Jones and Dai Gray, for the part they played in his development. Certainly something must have gone well as soon after he was offered a development contract with the Newport Gwent Dragons, unfortunately for him this did not work out well as he suffered a very bad shoulder injury whilst playing at Llanelli. In the process of Andy grounding a try an opponent managed land on him dislocating both shoulders. This turned out to be a long term injury that needed surgery to correct, equally it put paid to his regional contract, which was not renewed when it expired. Their loss has been Newport RFC’s gain as Andrew signed for Newport, was voted “Player of the Year” and has now become Club Captain this season, both of these accolades are ones of which he is immensely proud.

Andy’s previous experiences as captain have been limited to mini rugby, but he does have a wealth of experience around him and says, “I’m glad Dai Pats is in the side, he’s got bags of experience, I’m learning all the time. There are also plenty of other leaders in the side, Dan (Griffiths) & Scott (Williams) are there to lead the backs, and they all help with the video analysis. Captaincy is easy while we’re winning, it’s if we lose the test will come.”

When asked about the differences between this season and last Andy were quick to praise the professionalism of the coaching staff. Sven brings “seriousness and a real hard game plan”, Jon “skills and patterns of play”, Dai “offloading & enthusiasm, he’s always bouncing around like a lunatic.” James Knight, the fitness coach for both Newport RFC & Newport Gwent Dragons has brought “a totally new training regime that is fun as well as punishing. Training is now more geared to games, we’re dragging weights & flipping tyres rather than just lifting weights. Pre season he had us all running sand dunes and wading through the sea at 8.30 one morning, these things have brought us closer together.” Mike Sage was “perfect as team manager, he’s good at his job and gets the organisation just right.”

“This season the squad has really bonded, with real friendships, whereas last year there were more individuals. Overall we now have the right people in the right roles doing what they need to.”

“Last season we underachieved, this year we aim to finish top, we must turn Rodney Parade back into a fortress, we must look after our own turf.”

“It’s about attitude and professionalism, if we get our heads on for 1½ hours during training and games we will get silverware to show for it.”

Asked about his best memories in his rugby career so far our captain came up with four, the first pains me to report, was scoring the winning try for Wales U18’s against England, coming on as a replacement for a certain Richard Dale. The second winning the Youth Cup Final for Newport Youth, The cream of the bunch was playing in Rod Snows testimonial game alongside world class players such as Gary Teichman, Shane Howarth and Rod himself. Possibly best to forget the fourth, playing for a Pontypool side that sneaked a victory against the mighty Black & Ambers. Guess if he leads us to the title we will forgive him, if not he’s on dodgy ground!

Black & Amber Alliance would like to thank Andy for this insight into him as a captain and as a player. We were mightily impressed with his attitude and professionalism and are proud to have him as skipper of our famous club.