Where are they now?

Bevan’s back with a bang!

Local rugby players and supporters alike will remember Nigel Bevan as a rampaging rugby flanker with Narberth, for a decade, and will be delighted to hear that he fought back from a serious illness, cycles many miles a year to keep fit now – and has just returned to quad bike racing with some distinction.
Nigel played at the Lewis Lloyd Ground at the most exciting time for Narberth when they won the double of Pembrokeshire League and Knock Out Cup, went in to the Heineken Leagues the following season and surprised many teams up the line with their commitment and skill as they gained promotion. He played for the county youth team which won the Welsh Youth Cup and represented the county at senior level – but more of all that later.

Battling back from injury and illness

He had to finish playing because of back problems when he was still only 29 but switched to playing golf and quad bike racing – but was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2004, something he admits was a real shock.
            “I hadn’t felt well for a while, although I did some rugby coaching with the kids at Narberth, and for the next two years and more it wasn’t easy, but I have battled back and feel fine now because I know when it is time to take a rest. I have also adopted the philosophy that there are plenty of people worse off than me.”
In 2007 Nigel decided to give cycling a try and since then he has really built up his stamina to such an extent that in the intervening years he has averaged about 3,000 miles and undertaken several charity bike rides. One of those was to cycle from Swansea to North Wales, climb Snowdon and cycle back with old pal Tony Cremin and others – and £8,000 was raised for charity!

Quad biking champ

Nigel had been involved in quad bike racing when he stepped down from rugby but after a while took a break – but returned to action last year because his 13 year old son Sam was interested. Sam is now 14 and doing so well with his 250cc quad that he competes against, and often beats, adults in the ‘C’ class, many of whom have 450cc quads.
Nigel re-caught the bug and also takes part with his 450cc quad in the Senior Class (that’s for over 35s) and is currently leading the Welsh Championship and Club Class at Dredgers’ Moto Cross Club.
They race over rough terrain which includes plenty of jumps and lots of excitement through the 15-minutes plus one lap races. He looks after the bike himself but has the engine tended by the experts at Lamo’s, and is grateful to Phil Hammersley for his sponsorship. The family is completed by Nigel’s wife Chris and daughter Nia (13), who is a great help in the quad racing and cooks his meals there if Chris is busy. Nigel is very competitive and jokingly says that although Sam is going well he still has a little way to go to catch up with dad!

Competitive nature in rugby

His competitive nature was previously much in evidence in his rugby, where he was known for his big tackling, strong play around the field and total commitment. He set out in the youth team and was chosen for Pembrokeshire Youth alongside the likes of Dominic Setaro, Steve Vickery and Ben Childs as they won the Welsh Youth Cup. The Narberth first team back row then was Richard Jones, Peter Griffiths and Roger Price, regarded as many as the best in the club’s history – but Nigel began to establish a place when Richard Jones stepped down – and was lucky to join other younger players like Randal Evans, Emyr and Rhodri Jones in a pretty good back row of their own.
They won the Knock Out Cup by beating favourites Tenby at Bierspool and completed the double with a win over the Seasiders at Heywood Lane the following week to qualify as the highest Pembrokeshire team to take part in the newly-formed Heineken Welsh Leagues the following campaign. It created a real buzz and Narberth got promoted at their first attempt – and Nigel was delighted to a regular in the side because he had been told by one ‘expert’ that he didn’t have what it took to play at this higher level!
Ken Mathias, who is the club's historian/archivist, told us that Nigel scored 19 tries in the season that the Otters won the league and cup double, played 43 games in the Heineken League, and says that in his view Nigel's best performance came in an 18-9 away win against a very strong Mountain Ash team where he scored a try.

Rugby reffing and  golf

And that is where Nigel stayed until his back problem arose and although he tried his hand at coaching with Glyndwr Richards at Crymych he knew he had to find something else. He did try rugby reffing but laughingly admits that it was hard going in the lower divisions, where he was still much fitter than lots of the players!
He also took up golf and rapidly reduced his handicap at Haverfordwest Golf Club. He is off a handicap of 12 now but says that he can’t play to that at present because he doesn’t get enough practice in!

New philosophy

But he adds that he has come round to the view, at the ripe old age of 47, that playing sport isn’t only about winning, and he is really enjoying his quad bike racing again. He just wants to carry on taking part for as long as he can, as well as seeing young Sam enjoy his involvement.
            “I’ve been really lucky to enjoy my rugby, golf, cycling and quad biking,” says Nigel, “and if Sam gets half as much pleasure then I’ll settle for that. I’ve made so many friends through being involved and that is what is best about sport in Pembrokeshire.”
We think he is absolutely right and PembrokeshireSport.co.uk is delighted to count Nigel Bevan as a long-standing friend – and we are very pleased to have a walk down Memory Lane with a rugby player we really admired, to find out more about what he is doing now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHOTOS: Top to bottom.
Nigel Bevan - ready for action.
Nigel scores a try against Mountain Ash.
A typical Bevan burst.
Nigel as the link man.
Bevan on his way to another try.

 

Pictures kindly supplied by Ken Mathias.