Welsh rugby pride will be on the line when London Welsh entertain Swansea in the British & Irish Cup on Saturday at Old Deer Park (1pm) with the game also being shown live on S4C.
It’s a must-win game for the Exiles and the Whites with both sides having lost their opening game in Pool C.
Last Saturday, Welsh let slip a 16-point half-time lead to lose 24-21 at home to Moseley, while back in October Swansea went down 32-12 to Ulster at St Helen’s.
Formed in 1885, London Welsh is this season celebrating its 125-year Anniversary. Fitting then that Swansea should be visiting Old Deer Park in the B&I Cup as the two clubs first met on December 24, 1885 at St Helen’s.
“There’s always been a massive rivalry between the two clubs over the years,” said London Welsh Managing Director John Taylor.
“Because London Welsh is determined to maintain a Welsh core to the club – it’s not just London Welsh in name only – our roots are very important and therefore it’s imperative that we make a statement when we play Welsh clubs.
“The fact that it’s live on S4C shows how important it is to people in Wales. That’s terrific and we’ll be determined to show that the London Welsh tradition of open attacking rugby is still very much alive. We expect it to be a very exciting game.
“We want to show people in Wales that London Welsh are an attractive side to watch, with ambition on the field as well as off it.”
Currently fourth in the Welsh Premiership, Saturday’s game will be Swansea’s first outing since beating Pontypool on November 20, due to the recent freezing weather.
The Whites lost three Premiership fixtures to the weather as well as last weekend’s B&I Cup game against Neath.
Saturday’s game will be the 99th between London Welsh and Swansea but the first time that the two clubs have met in a meaningful fixture since April 1, 1989 – the Whites winning 42-14 at Old Deer Park.
However, more recently the two clubs did meet in a pre-season friendly in August 2008 at Swansea University, with the Exiles coming out on top 26-10.
“Matches against Swansea were always the highlight of the London Welsh year in days gone by,” added Taylor.
“We always played them over the Christmas period but that was always the day after Boxing Day down there, so this is a reverse on that.”
Just to remind both sides what they are playing for, the British & Irish Cup will be on display at Old Deer Park on Saturday, while the club also plan to mark the visit of Swansea by laying on some special entertainment.
The London Welsh Rugby Club Choir will be in attendance as will the London Welsh Brass Ensemble, and to get supporters in the Christmas mood, Santa Claus will be making an appearance.
The club are also very proud to welcome Guy Masterson, award winning actor and director and great nephew of Richard Burton, to present Dylan Thomas’ very special short story, ‘A Child’s Christmas in Wales’.
Guy has been performing the works of Dylan Thomas for over 18 years. His unique one-man rendition of ‘Under Milk Wood’ has been performed over 2000 times all over the world, and his programme of short Dylan’s stories and poems, ‘Fern Hill & Other Dylan Thomas’ won him the prestigious Best Actor Award at the Edinburgh Festival.
He is also the producer/director of the West End hit and Olivier Award Winning ‘Morecambe’ which has toured the UK extensively over the past 18 months.
