page revision date: 30th July 2008
Lloyd’s off to Llandovery
Narberth RFC have lost inspirational young No 8 Lloyd Phillips before the start of the next rugby campaign because he intends furthering his experience in the Welsh Premier League at Llandovery.
Lloyd caught the eye as a rampaging back rower with the Otters in the 2007/8 campaign and been heavily involved with the Welsh under 20s squad which came second to England in the Six Nations competition for that age group – and eagerly anticipated the World Cup tournament in Cardiff where he again featured prominently in helping Wales reach the last four of the competition.
He has really enjoyed himself at the Lewis Lloyd Ground and it will be a wrench to leave but he decided to move to Llandovery because he needs experience at a higher level if he is to achieve his aim of being a full-time professional player and one of the plusses for Lloyd will be the fact that he will be coached at Llandovery by Rob Appleyard, originally from Pembroke and a Welsh senior international in the back row. He has already played for Llandovery at Cross Keys and although he finished up on the losing side saw enough to know that the move was right for him.
It is well-chronicled that Lloyd has represented Wales from the time that he was an under 16 star and won three caps, adding five caps at under 18. He was selected for the Welsh under 19 squad a year early but after only one international he damaged his shoulder and needed an operation but was back at under 19 the following campaign to win five more caps, followed by four more this season.
He played in the opening international this season, when Wales under 20s lost 32-16 to England and he had to leave the field early with suspected concussion and was forced to miss the match against Scotland. But he came off the bench against Italy at half time and was first choice again against Ireland, where he scored a try, and France.
That led nicely into the World Cup, played this year in Wales and with the host nation playing against Italy, Japan and France at venues like the Liberty Stadium, Swansea, Rodney Parade, Newport, and The Racecourse, Wrexham, with the final stages scheduled for the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Lloyd had hoped to help Wales win the competition but they came up against the mighty New Zealand side and went out after a real battle.
Last year saw Lloyd heavily involved in the Llanelli Scarlets set-up after going through the academy system with them and he captained the sides throughout his time there. He came home to Narberth this season just completed, where his mum Mary is on the committee, and caught the eye with his rousing work at the base of the scrum. Ask Lloyd about the year and he is quick to praise Narberth.
“I was lucky last year to have such wonderful support at the Narberth from my family and the regulars who attend. Sean Gale has been a great help as forwards coach whilst Jonathan Dodd and Clive James have really helped me develop my reading of the game and positional play. Although I missed quite a few matches because of my international commitment I scored almost 20 tries and wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
Five of those tries came in one Welsh Cup match against Nelson and he also recorded a few try braces as he played well alongside the likes of Jamie Bohata, Gareth Bateman and Andrew Dennis. He hopes to take that try-scoring form into next year as he takes a step up in standard to play against the likes of Pontypool, Cross Keys, Bridgend, Pontypridd, Cardiff, Neath and Swansea.
Lloyd also aims to pursue his education ambitions at the same time because he is close to finishing his second year of a Sports Degree at Trinity College, Carmarthen, having already undertaken some work experience at Ysgol Dyffryn Taf in Whitland, ironically the home of Narberth’s greatest rivals. He really enjoyed it there and says he cannot speak ideally enough of staff, parents and students!
He also helps Clive James to coach the Narberth under 14 team which has played really well and won the Neyland ten a side tournament, winning their pool before beating Milford Haven in the semi-final and then Crymych in the final, after extra time.
“I have really learned a lot by coaching the youngsters which will help me develop my own game as well,” says Lloyd, “like angles of running and support play. Watching Clive with them has been an education in its own right, especially with regard to spotting weaknesses in the opposition.”
It is nice to see such a talented young player who, at 19 years of age, is already putting something back into his sport in this way and he is very highly thought of at the Lewis Lloyd Ground. He will be sorely missed but will always be welcomed back in future years, hopefully after he has had a long and successful career at the top as a professional player, to finish where he started off as a fine young player and then as coach.
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