| Regional rugby started in 2003-04 in Wales with the formation of five
professional sides based mainly on the clubs from the former Premier
Division. So we saw the birth of the Blues (Cardiff), Dragons (Newport
& Ebbw Vale), Ospreys (Neath & Swansea), Scarlets (Llanelli) and
the Warriors (Bridgend & Pontypridd). This resulted in the Premier
Division becoming a semi-professional league made up of the existing
nine top flight clubs and the top seven clubs from Division One.
Aberavon lost half of their successful squad over the summer months
as the player transfer market kicked off. With such a high squad
turnover many wrote off the chances of the Wizards in the new look
Premier Division, especially against the clubs that were feeder clubs to
their regional big brother. You would have had long odds on the kind of
start
the Wizards did have. Winning their first three games against Carmarthen
Quins, Llandovery and Swansea, Aberavon found themselves sitting on top
of the Premier Division. Aberavon then welcomed Neath to The World of
Hurt, but the Welsh All Blacks had too much firepower with them knocking
Aberavon off the top spot. By the start of November Aberavon had won 9
from 11 before having mixed fortunes as 2003 ended. Both Newport and
Neath were starting to run away with the league while the Wizards headed
the chasing pack. Aberavon completed doubles over teams such as
Carmarthen, Llanelli and Cardiff before turning their attentions to the
Konica Minolta Cup. Aberavon beat Cross Keys 38 -21 in the
quarter-finals of the competition to set up a semi-final with the
Wizards bogey side, Caerphilly, at the Millennium Stadium. Despite
having a great start in that game, some errors either side of the
interval let the Castletown side back into the game, with them
eventually winning 33 - 22. The last few games of the season proved to
be a bit of an anti-climax with the main highlight being the 102 - 5
hammering of Caerphilly at The World of Hurt - hopefully to lay that
bogey to rest!
Looking back at the start of the season with so many new players in
the squad, the Wizards will be happy with what they achieved in 2003-04.
They were the best former Division One club in both the League and Cup
making it to the "last four" in both competitions. What's
more, is that this was all achieved without any help whatsoever from any
of the five regional sides, possibly no other club could say the same.
Club Records Broken By The 2003-04 Wizards
-
Largest league win: 102 - 5, v Caerphilly
-
Most points in a career: 1709 points, Jamie Davies
broke Mike Lewis's record of 1572 points
-
Most tries in a career by a forward: 102 tries,
Richard Morris broke Peter Jones' record of 100 tries
-
Most points in a league game: 32 points, Jamie
Davies, v Caerphilly
Welsh National League Premier Division
| Pos |
Team |
Played |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
PF |
PA |
Tries |
Points |
| 1 | Newport | 30 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 1054 | 550 | 142 | 82 |
| 2 | Neath | 30 | 23 | 1 | 6 | 947 | 557 | 114 | 70 |
| 3 | Pontypridd | 30 | 20 | 2 | 8 | 820 | 641 | 92 | 62 |
| 4 | Aberavon | 30 | 17 | 0 | 13 | 774 | 627 | 93 | 51 |
| 5 | Carmarthen Quins | 30 | 16 | 1 | 13 | 674 | 629 | 76 | 49 |
| 6 | Swansea | 30 | 16 | 0 | 14 | 853 | 710 | 96 | 48 |
| 7 | Bridgend | 30 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 757 | 767 | 93 | 43 |
| 8 | Cross Keys | 30 | 13 | 0 | 17 | 753 | 777 | 83 | 39 |
| 9 | Bedwas | 30 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 644 | 797 | 72 | 38 |
| 10 | Caerphilly | 30 | 11 | 1 | 18 | 658 | 918 | 82 | 34 |
| 11 | Pontypool | 30 | 11 | 1 | 18 | 543 | 698 | 59 | 34 |
| 12 | Cardiff | 30 | 11 | 0 | 19 | 649 | 797 | 87 | 33 |
| 13 | Newbridge | 30 | 10 | 3 | 17 | 585 | 803 | 78 | 33 |
| 14 | Llanelli | 30 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 701 | 765 | 86 | 32 |
| 15 | Llandovery | 30 | 10 | 2 | 18 | 681 | 787 | 82 | 32 |
| 16 | Ebbw
Vale | 30 | 10 | 1 | 19 | 554 | 824 | 58 | 31 |
|
Club Awards
- Richard Morris (Player of the Year)
- Paul Breeze (Most Promising Player of the Year)
- Mike Harris (Clubman of the Year)
|
