The home of the WRU RGC Academy and RGC Regional senior rugby team will play host to the event which will see both clubs announced as ‘hub clubs’ for the North Wales Region before kick-off. Tickets for the event are £5 for adults and U16s get in free.
The concept of hub clubs sees the best academy players in north Wales integrated into teams in the region with Caernarfon and Ruthin fighting off their rivals to be the two clubs to be awarded such status.
“We identified quite early on that the academy programme would need to be extended beyond a simple two year programme and we also acknowledged that it was important to integrate academy players into the clubs of north Wales,” said Marc Roberts, WRU Performance Programme Manager for north Wales.
“Caernarfon and Ruthin have been through a rigorous procedure which meant they had to match some key criteria both on and off the field and both will have a key role to play in the development of WRU RGC 1404 Academy players.
“Both clearly demonstrated that they had a player-centred approach to player development and will make great partners to the WRU RGC 1404 academy and the RGC 1404 senior regional team. We have already started placing some of our academy players into Caernarfon and Ruthin and the initial signs are really positive.”
In addition to players from the academy joining their squad, Caernarfon and Ruthin will also receive a significant amount of support in the player welfare and analytical areas of the game.
Jim Salisbury, Ruthin head coach was delighted his club had been selected.
“Both parties have put a tremendous amount of time and effort into this process, in which I’m positive the rewards will soon show,” he said.
“Ruthin are working towards a three-year plan and this appointment will only help the club move forwards to achieve their goal.
“Developing young players is the club’s main philosophy and this will be strengthened by the partnership the club now has with RGC through the support structure and working with their team of highly qualified and experienced coaches.”
Caernarfon’s new head coach, Chris Malherbe, echoed Salisbury’s thoughts.
“We are looking forward to the match against Ruthin at Parc Eirias on Friday night,” he said.
“We know we’re up against a confident Ruthin side, who from all accounts are playing an attractive brand of rugby. Having started slowly against Pwllheli, we showed some glimpses of good form in last Saturday’s 52 – 21 win away at Llangefni.
“The pitch at Parc Eirias will be in perfect condition on Friday and I’m sure the crowd will witness a high quality league encounter with two sides trying to play high tempo attractive rugby.”
Caernarfon Chairman, Eifion Harding added: “We welcome Ruthin to Parc Eirias on what I’m sure will be an exciting evening of quality rugby.
“I’d like to thank the staff at Eirias and RGC for all their support in making this encounter happen at such a quality venue. We are absolutely delighted to play this fixture at Eirias and hope that we are able to draw a large crowd to watch north Wales’ two hub clubs come face to face in what should be an enthralling encounter.”
Rupert Moon, General Manager for North Wales, believes the hub club partnership will stand north Wales in good stead for the future.
“I would like to thank all north Wales clubs who applied for hub club status – it was a very tough decision but our intention is to build on the programme over the next three years,” he added.
“We want to build on the history of north Wales rugby and it starts today. All 35 Clubs are key pieces of the RGC 1404 jigsaw and when we join together we can create a fantastic rugby development picture.
“The work on the jigsaw is well underway and we relish the challenge of completing it.”
