Clayton was a successful amateur rugby player in his youth, captaining and playing halfback for Pontyberem RFC, where he earned the nickname \u201cThe Ferret\u201d \u2013 one he now uses in darts.<\/p>\n
Price himself was a professional rugby player, representing Wales at the 2004 Under-21 World Championship in Argentina, where they faced a New Zealand side featuring eight future All Blacks.<\/p>\n
Clayton demonstrated his passion for the sport with a special darts shirt inspired by the All Blacks and featuring a silver fern.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing a rugby man myself, I spoke to the guy that designs my shirts and I said we have to go something like the All Blacks, it\u2019s got to be black and white, it\u2019s got to have the fern on it,\u201d Clayton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy with the design and there\u2019s been a lot of comments on social media, so I think there\u2019s a lot of people happy with it, and these might be on sale soon.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows two rugby boys can play darts. To play each other for the second time in the world of rugby New Zealand, we both had smiles on our faces.\u201c<\/p>\n
Clayton faced his toughest test in Friday\u2019s Round-of-16 match against Kiwi Haupai Puha. The pair have produced several high-quality matches on the World Series stage and this was no different, with Clayton overcoming a two-leg deficit to win 6-5 in a last-leg decider.<\/p>\n
He then comfortably accounted for Dutchman Gian van Veen, Englishman James Wade and Price on Saturday to claim the $69,000 prize.<\/p>\n
The final briefly threatened to unravel after Clayton surged to a 7-1 lead. <\/p>\n
With the title within touching distance, he missed three match darts at double 11 before suffering what he described as a \u201chead freeze\u201d in the following leg, opting to hit 18 to leave double 16 rather than go for the bullseye.<\/p>\n
Jonny Clayton and Gerwyn Price during the NZ Darts Masters final. Photo \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
Price reeled off three consecutive legs to capitalise before Clayton finally closed out the victory.<\/p>\n
Clayton was delighted to get one back on his Welsh counterpart after Price had beaten him in the 2022 final.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought, \u2018All right, okay, we\u2019ve played each other once before in New Zealand. Hopefully, the second time we play against each other, hopefully it was my night,\u2019 and luckily enough it was,\u201d Clayton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to have a runner-up and now the champion\u2019s trophy, so, yeah, there\u2019s a happy Welshman here.\u201c<\/p>\n
Clayton is hopeful of returning next year to defend his title and thanks the people of Auckland for their support.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve done a lot of walking since being here,\u201d Clayton said. \u201cMy steps are up… but I\u2019ve loved it.<\/p>\n
\u201dFor a dart player, the crowd make the game of darts. When the right songs, the banter, the cheers, when all of those are in the right place, there\u2019s no better feeling on that stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be fair, here in Auckland it was fantastic. The crowd were absolutely amazing.\u201c<\/p>\n
Overall, it was another difficult campaign for the five-strong New Zealand contingent, who remain without a win on the World Series stage since 2023.<\/p>\n
Mark Cleaver, Kayden Milne and Jonny Tata were comfortably beaten by Price, Wade and van Veen respectively, while Australian Damon Heta came from behind to reel off five consecutive legs and beat New Zealand No 1 Ben Robb 6-4.<\/p>\n
Robb will have another opportunity to end New Zealand\u2019s drought at next week\u2019s Australian Darts Masters, where he will be the country\u2019s lone representative.<\/p>\n