Cole Barry plays loose head prop for Haverfordwest Rugby Club and after playing for his age group last season has spent the season just ended with the Scarlets West squad - and is one of the new breed of props who is fit, fast and can handle a ball with ease.
 

Early swimming success

 
His success is all the more praiseworthy because he was a relatively late starter in the oval ball game after enjoying a bit of football and spending time before that as a keen swimmer who started out as a seven year old in St Davids School on a Thursday evening, eventually achieving level twelve.
 
By then he could swim half a mile with ease, loved the rigours of the training and successfully entered a number of galas. But when he joined Sir Thomas Picton School in 2010 he was introduced to rugby by school pal Tommy Locke, who was already playing as a prop.
 

Terrific family support – and some choice words in Afrikaans!

 
That Cole should enjoy rugby is perhaps only natural because his father Stuart played as tight head prop for STP School and the county under Mr. Ronnie James, and also played in Warwickshire when he lived there.
 
And perhaps more importantly, Cole's late mum Theresa originally hailed from South Africa and loved the game with a passion. Cole was born in Alberton, near Johannesburg, and came here in October, 2004, so he has dual nationality and in theory could play for either country in future years.
 
"Both have been brilliant supporters," Cole told us, "and mum was amazing because although she hadn't been well her first thoughts were always for me.
 
"When she was at matches she always shouted the loudest and lets rip the odd swear word - but luckily she shouted in Afrikaans so no-one else knew what she said!"
 

Started at the bottom and began working upwards
 

His first competitive matches came in a tournament where STP had three teams and he was picked for the 'C' team because so many wanted to play. They beat St Davids, Crymych and Milford Haven and he actually played second row because he was one of the tallest in the team!
 
Cole also started playing at Haverfordwest under the guidance of coaches Peter Williams and Alaric Churchill but he took a while to settle, sometimes missing training before he finally found his place at prop and has been totally committed ever since, winning the under 14s coaches' player of the year as proof of his improvement.
 

Switch to prop pays dividends

 
He joined the front row at the suggestion of Jonathan Llewellin when he was chosen for a trial at Neyland - and although he went home with aching shoulders he thoroughly enjoyed being involved in the hurly-burly of the front row!
From that trial in Neyland, Cole was chosen for the first year to follow the 'Pembrokeshire Pathways' scheme alongside other talented hopefuls like Kemsley Mathias, George Evans, Mark Stobbs, Dan Rawlings, Rhys Davies, Ryan Conbeer, and Sean Colella.
 
"We did really well," Cole told us, "and we were the first county team to achieve a top eight placing in the revamped Dewar Shield competition as we beat Swansea Valley and Aberavon. 
 
"I missed that match because I broke a finger in training after mistiming a tackle and we eventually lost to Cardiff but we felt we had done well in our first season together."
 

Playing in school – and for Scarlets West

 
In school he also began to play prop and is part of a useful side where he joins fellow Year Eleven students George Evans and Kemsley Mathias alongside sixth form students of the calibre of Kyle Williams and Declan Harwood.
 
At the start of the 2014/15 season there was a further challenge for Cole as he attended the Scarlets West trials that also included other young hopefuls from Ceredigion and Carmarthen.
 
"There were 65 of us to start and that was reduced to 40 and then 30 as the trials progressed at STP School, and I was delighted to be chosen at loose-head prop alongside Rhys Davies of Milford Haven.
 
"Playing at this level was a real learning curve as we beat Scarlets East three times and also got the better of RGC from North Wales in a good match at Narberth, but lost to Ospreys (West), Dragons (North) and a superb Cardiff (North) team."
 

Works hard in training

 
Cole and Co train on the grass on the inside of the athletics track at STP School every Monday evening and they spend one hour looking at skills after a brisk warm-up organised by Johnny Llewellin, Barry John and Jonathan Evans, with the emphasis on passing and tackling alongside forward-orientated work with regard to the scrummage, line-out and driving mauls.
 
This concentrated session is followed by a Saturday morning session at the nearby SAW gym where their conditioning is worked on with Simon Roach and Owain Rowlands. It is very focussed on upper body and arm strength so necessary for forwards these days and a measure of Cole's commitment can be gauged from the fact that he also attends SAW twice a week of his own volition because he realises how importance fitness is.
 

Always willing to help out

 
Back with Haverfordwest RFC for a moment, Cole also showed his growing talent and willingness to get stuck in when at under 15 level he often helped out Jeff Clout's under 16 team.
 
"It was a big step up," admitted Cole, "but I really benefitted from the experience as Jeff looked after me well; often bringing me on in the second half in an experienced front row that had Jonathan Clout, Kyle Hamer and Roger Price as regulars.
 

Missed out by a point – but won at Breen Sands

 
"I've enjoyed playing for the under 16s again this season, with Peter Williams and Alaric Churchill still in charge, and we have done well to get within a point of winning the league before being pipped by Crymych.
 
"We also went on tour to Breen Sands in Somerset and played with seven other teams in a tournament where we won five matches, drew one and lost one to Hitchen Elves - but when we played them in the final we beat them by two tries as Aidan Hanner led us well and I played alongside the likes of Mark Stobbs, Dan Rawlings, Matthew Clayton and Tommy Locke.
 
But the biggest success came in the Griffiths Cup at Neyland, just a short while after Theresa passed away and Cole showed his courage by insisting he play as a tribute to his mum. The Haverfordwest under 18s beat their counterparts from Whitland in an epic tussle – and there wasn’t a dry eye in the Blues’ camp as his team-mates insisted Cole went up to collect the trophy!
 

Lovely tribute to mum

 
Ask Cole about future plans and he would say that he just wants to carry on working hard and seeing how far he goes without setting ambitious targets.
 
“Everyone in local rugby who knows me will know that my mum Theresa hadn't been well and at the moment I want to focus on doing my best for my dad and knowing mum would be  proud of me is enough as a way of saying 'thank you' for being such an amazing mum."
 
Talk to Cole Barry for just a short time, as we did, and it would be difficult to think anything other than that he is a modest, level-headed and committed young man - and we wish him every success for the future!