There’s a great deal of change going on in Welsh rugby right now.
Even with departures at the top of the Welsh Rugby Union, the governing body remain adamant that they will cut from four to three professional teams. It’s all a far cry from the days of old, when numerous Welsh rugby clubs flew the flag in the old Western Mail Unofficial Welsh Club Championship
Neath’s Premiership Cup triumph on the weekend was a special day for the Welsh All Blacks and brought back some memories – but what about those other famous Welsh clubs?
Here we look at the fate of the big names after so many years of change, not least the introduction of regional rugby in 2003.
Aberavon
As five-time winners of the unofficial Welsh club title, Aberavon were once celebrated as a side who played expansive rugby but they also possessed a reputation for robust, physical forward play. With the likes of Billy Mainwaring, Max Wiltshire and Omri Jones, few would take liberties with Aberavon packs in days gone by.
The introduction of leagues in Wales found the Wizards somewhat unfortunate – they had ended 17th in the unofficial Welsh championship and therefore had to settle for a position in the new structure’s second tier instead of in the top division.
Within two seasons, they had secured promotion. However, professionalism transformed everything and Aberavon were unable to genuinely challenge for major honours before the game became regional.
The club had a close call with relegation from the Welsh Premiership in 2014 when they entered the final day of the league season with themselves and Swansea fighting to remain up.
Now, they compete in the SRC – finishing eighth this season ahead of the play-offs. Respected head coach Jason Hyatt, who has spent 13 years in charge and helped bring through Wales captain Jac Morgan, stepped away from the role due to mental health issues earlier this year.
Another impressive outfit in their heyday, Bridgend were usually difficult to beat and entertaining to watch.
Former Welsh champions, they claimed the Welsh Cup in 1979 and 1980 with a side that included JPR Williams and Steve Fenwick and a robust pack that could match any opposition blow for blow.
Bridgend found themselves comfortably established in the top flight during the early years of league rugby, though the demands of professionalism took their toll.
A standout achievement arrived in 2003 when the Brewery Men clinched the league title, only for regionalisation to be introduced, preventing them from defending their crown in the same guise.
After Leighton Samuel had ploughed around £3 million into the club, he remarked upon receiving the trophy: “It’s the most expensive vase in the world.”
Nowadays, the Ravens are coached by former Wales hooker Scott Baldwin – finishing ninth in the SRC.
Bridgend Ravens boss Scott Baldwin. (Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency)
Self-styled as ‘The Greatest’ after wins over New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, Cardiff RFC is a name known around the world. When leagues kicked in, they won two titles in the first decade of the new era.
Following the 2003 regionalisation of Welsh rugby, Cardiff Rugby became the professional arm of the organisation, with the semi-professional Cardiff RFC taking the mantle of ‘the Rags’; the traditional nickname for Cardiff’s second-string team.
Having won the Welsh Premiership for the fourth time in 2022, the club have topped the SRC’s regular season table in each of the league’s first two seasons to date – with Dan Fish’s side hoping to better last year’s semi-final defeat this year.
Unofficial Welsh champions back on a handful of occasions in the 1950s, the Steelman have endured some turbulent times in recent years.
However, they’ve handled it with typical resolve. Having suffered the dubious distinction of being on the receiving end of the heaviest defeat in Heineken Cup history with a 108–16 defeat away to Toulouse in 1998, they did manage some revenge – winning the return fixture.
Then, in the 2010s, they slipped down the leagues – only to work their way back and win the Premiership under Nigel Davies in 2016.
Now in the SRC, they are one of the league’s best sides. Beaten finalists last season, they once again finished second in the league this time around.
Ebbw Vale faced Newport in last year’s Super Rygbi Cymru final(Image: Kian Abdullah/Huw Evans Agency)
Like Cardiff, a name that reached far beyond Wales. Think Phil Bennett, Delme Thomas and Ray Gravell.
New Zealand, 1972. Australia, 1993.
Following the advent of regional rugby, they served as the feeder club for the Scarlets, who effectively are now the Llanelli brand of old. In 2023, they club side announced they would withdraw from the 2023/24 Premiership season as they were unable to field a team.
Instead, they harboured plans to join the new elite development league, which would later become known as the SRC.
However, they were not chosen – leading to the club being disbanded.
Former England hooker Brian Moore once said he used to use his experiences of playing at Maesteg ahead of Test matches against Wales.
The club certainly has some history, with an unbeaten season in 1949/50 and a 10-10 draw with the Maori in 1982 among the highlights, as well as Merit Table title victories in 1978 and 1979.
The club were promoted to the Premiership in 2005, but were relegated a couple of years later. In 2018, they opted to drop down from Division One West Central to Division Three East Central.
The club are currently in Division 4 West Central, but are set to go up as champions.
Neath
Under Brian Thomas, Ron Waldron and Glen Ball, Neath were one of the most formidable team in Britain. Even when the leagues were introduced, their dominance continued.
They claimed the inaugural Heineken League title before winning another in 1996. Then, in the first seven years after regional rugby was introduced, they won the league five times.
However, it’s not all been plain sailing. In 2019, the the club were in dire straits after the collapse of then owner Mike Cuddy’s construction business.
That left them fighting off two winding-up orders and saw them relegated into the Championship amid an exodus of players. Having rebuilt, they tried to secure their place in the SRC – but, despite a fiery social media campaign that got tense on occasions, the WRU chose Cardiff over the Welsh All Blacks for the 10th spot.
Now playing in the Welsh Premiership, which is part of the community game rather than the professional tier, they defeated Merthyr to lift the 2025/26 WRU Premiership Cup on the weekend.
Neath lift the Premiership Cup final at the Principality Stadium(Image: Chris Fairweather/Huw Evans Agency)
Newport
Another of Welsh rugby’s traditional big four, the famous old club won just the one Premiership title. That came in 2003/04, after the game had gone regional.
Every major rugby union touring team to visit Wales played at Rodney Parade and all of them were beaten at least once in the twentieth century. Tonga were beaten in 1974, South Africa were downed in 1912 and Australia were seen off in 1957.
But, of course, the most famous victory came in 1963 when the side, captained by Brian Price, defeated New Zealand 3–0. That turned out to be the All Blacks’ only defeat on their tour that year.
Now competing in the SRC, they won the title in the league’s maiden season – following it up with an SRC Cup triumph this year.
Action from Newport v Neath in 1990
For years, Penarth used to rub shoulders with the elite as the opening leg of the Barbarians’ south Wales Easter tours.
Starting from 1901, they hosted the Baa-Baas every year on Good Friday. Over the next 75 meetings, Penarth won eleven games, drew four and lost 60.
The final Penarth v Barbarians game took place in 1986, though a special centenary commemorative game took place in 2001 before the Barbarians played Wales at the Millennium Stadium.
The club now find themselves in Division 1 East Central.
The Penarth rugby team to play the Barbarians in March 1986
The Valley Commandos had long-established themselves as one of Welsh rugby’s toughest, hardest-to-beat teams long before they hit a hot spot in the 1990s when Neil Jenkins, Paul John, Nigel Bezani, Dale McIntosh and Phil John were in their pomp.
Those names won them a league title in 1997, while there was a cup final triumph over Swansea in 1995.
Then, the club won four straight Premiership titles between 2012 and 2015.
However, the Sardis Road side now play in the third-tier Welsh Premiership having refused to apply for one of 10 places in SRC when launched in 2024. They have since considered applying to be part of the development league.
Pontypool
For Pontypool, the golden era was undoubtedly in the 1970s and 1980s. Max Boyce even penned a song about their front-row of Charlie Faulkner, Bobby Windsor, Graham Price.
Then, in 1988, with the likes of David Bishop and Mark Ring, they won the Welsh title – winning 35 matches out of 36, scoring 1011 points and conceding only 411 points.
However, recent times were more difficult. Having lost their place in the Premiership in 2013, they found it tough to get back. Even when they went entire seasons without losing in the Championship, hurdles put in their way prevented them from going up.
In the end, they did manage it and now find themselves as a part of the SRC.
Pontypool prop Graham Price pictured playing for Pontypool against New Zealand in 1989(Image: 1989 Mark Leech)
South Wales Police RFC had been established in June 1969 when the rugby teams of different police forces amalgamated. They became a member of the unofficial Welsh championship and didn’t take long to become a significant force.
In their golden era of the 1980s, the boys in blue supplied a rich seam of internationals to Wales, including Richie Donovan, Bleddyn Bowen, Steve Sutton, Richie Collins, Martyn Morris, Hugh Williams-Jones and John Wakeford.
The club won promotion to the premier division of Welsh rugby’s new league structure within two seasons of it being set up but the elevation didn’t prove a happy affair, with the Police finishing bottom of the top flight the following year. They were never to compete at such a level again, with the professional era kicking in.
In November 2012, they withdrew from division five south central of the WRU league because they could no longer raise a team.
Today, the team play in police competitions – having won the Police Sport UK Cup for the fourth consecutive year in 2025.
Swansea
The famous All Whites are another club with a stellar history – the first in the world to down the three major southern hemisphere sides, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.
Mike Ruddock kickstarted a golden era in the 1990s, helping them win the league in 1992. It was the start of a golden era for the club which saw six trophies banked over 10 seasons, including four league crowns, John Plumtree maintaining the Whites’ momentum after Ruddock departed.
The club now play in the SRC and, despite a great deal of uncertainty around the future of rugby in Wales’ second, are set to return to a new-look St Helen’s next season.