At 19 years of age, Moritz Neumann would readily admit to being a raw invoice in rugby since he only started out with St Davids Youth team less than 18 months ago but is now holding down a regular place as the youngest player in the Haverfordwest First XV squad, two divisions higher than the Saints senior side.
 
This meteoric rise came about almost by accident because Moritz hadn’t played rugby since his very early days at Ysgol Dewi Sant, which he would readily admit weren’t covered in glory.
 
“I was very small in those days,” said Moritz, “and so I was slung out on the wing, rarely touched the ball and almost caught pneumonia on cold, wet winter days!”
 
“I tried to be positive but after a while I stopped playing because it wasn’t fun and so I took up other sports – and my teachers were very supportive, once I had explained how I felt.
 

Face Book helps him join young Saints

 
“But fortunately I began to grow quickly in my mid teens and when I saw a notice on Face Book that St Davids Youth were looking for new players I decided to give it a go with coach Carwyn Richards – and when I contacted Caz I was told to just turn up and give it a go.
 
“I knew Scott Riches played with St Davids Youth and so I turned up in midweek and I took to it straight away as I was drafted into the centre.
 
“There was a great camaraderie amongst the players and Caz and we didn’t do too badly, considering what a small squad we had.
 

County honours soon follow

 
“It came as something of a nice surprise when I received a phone call from a county under 19 selector and asked if I was available to play for Pembrokeshire at that level.
 
“Of course I said yes and we had some very good results which saw us reach the final of the Welsh under 19s cup against Caerphilly at the Millennium Stadium.
 
“We battled really hard against a big, powerful and uncompromising opposition but lost in the end – but it was amazing to run out at the home of Welsh Rugby and we all had a memorable day in Cardiff!”
 
Moritz then widened his experience a little with some end of season senior games with St Davids.
“There was no saying ‘no’ to big Jack Dudley,” said Moritz, “and although we struggled to win games there was a brilliant team spirit and loads of fun after games.”
 

Moritz uses his swimming prowess . . .

 
At the same time as his rugby took off, Moritz also involved in his other sporting pastime of Surf Life Saving, where he represented Wales at youth level and has competed at venues as far afield as Cornwall, Australia, France, Ireland and Portugal.
 
That was a natural progression from his competitive swimming at a young age with Haverfordwest Seals and then Fishguard Fliers, where Moritz won his fair share of medals locally and enjoyed being involved.
 

. . . And becomes a Welsh surf life saver

 
Then he became a Life Guard under the auspices of the RNLI and he spends his summer months on duty at beaches like Broad Haven, Newgale and Whitesands Bay.
“We have a rota system for our local beaches and whilst it might seem the perfect job there is always the possibility of someone getting into difficulties so we have to be vigilant.”
 
The training was a natural progression springboard into surf life saving, where there are individual and team events and competitors have to show their ability in a range of testing activities that included a sprint swim of 100 metres through the surf to a 2,000 metres open-water swim around a set course, similar to Iron Man.
 

Creditable performances

 
Then there are team competitions where the lifeguards show their ability to use their equipment to the full and there are now clubs at Newgale, Newport (Pembs), Porthmawr, Whitesands Bay and Tenby which train youngsters to learn the skills that might put them in good stead on a beach sometime.
 
Moritz competed in his first attempt, the West Wales Championships in Tenby and then moved on to the Welsh Championships at Aberavon in front of a good crowd. Although a little shy about mentioning his best performances a little prompting reveals that he has twice won the Welsh 1000-metre middle distance race twice and in the World Championships came a very creditable tenth place in the 2,000-metre race.
 

Other sports

 
In his younger days Moritz was also a keen athlete at Ysgol Dewi Sant and with the Pembrokeshire Harriers.
“We had great club coaches like Peter Freeman, Liz and Nigel Rowlands and I enjoyed competing in cross-country especially, where I represented West Wales and was awarded my vest.
 
The Neumann family has traditionally been involved with horses and when he was younger Moritz joined sisters Lisa and Jana, plus brothers Finn and Johannes at local gymkhanas.
 
“We all had total support from our parents Kai, who is a doctor, and Andrea, especially with regard to being chauffeurs for my rugby!”
 

Blues beckon on the rugby field

 
At the start of this rugby season Moritz was invited to train at Whitland but decided that all the travelling for training, and then matches, would be too much. He also knew Scott Candler, who played for Haverfordwest, who also have another ex-St Davids man in coach Barry John, and so Moritz decided to try his luck there.
 
“I was made very welcome in pre-season training and was delighted when I discovered that I had been chosen for my first game, against Gowerton, but surprised I had been picked at No 8, a completely new position for me.
 
“But I decided to give it my best shot, enjoyed the involvement and was soon back in the centre, where I have been ever since, and I managed to claim my first try in our big win against Llandeilo”.
 

So what of the future for Moritz?

 
“At the moment I am enjoying myself with Haverfordwest and I’m learning all the time with a great bunch of players who are all happy to help.
“Then after the summer I hope to go to college in Hereford, where I can take an access course into being a farrier, which I think I would like to pursue as a career.”
 
But in the meanwhile he is more than happy to keep on enjoying his rugby at this time of year and will continue to show the quiet determination which has served him so well both there and in surf life-saving.
 
Moritz Neumann is a modest and pleasant teenager and we are confident that if he can maintain his current rate of progress then we are sure to hear a lot more about his rugby progress in the years to come!