The original Aberavon RFC was formed in 1876, and – as would happen to London Welsh a decade later - they struggled to raise a team in their formative years, and were disbanded within 10 years, only to re-form a couple of seasons later.  The club was originally called Afan, but the new club adopted the name ‘Aberavon’.  It’s been suggested that the ‘Wizards’ nickname possibly came from the large numbers of workers who came to Port Talbot from Carmarthen, an area which is rumoured to have links with Merlin – and that was long before Bill McLaren’s legendary commentary of a Ieuan Evans try versus Scotland at the old Arms Park in 1988 (“Merlin the Magician couldn’t have done any better!”).

The first meeting of the two teams was at the Mansel Works on 28^th December 1893, the final season before Welsh disbanded.  The Christmas tour was a disaster – Cardiff scored 15 tries (worth three points apiece) in a 57-0 drubbing, and several players failed to turn-up at Morriston on Christmas Day.  Only seven of the original party played at Aberavon, with the rest of the side drawn from the previous opponents, Cardiff and Morriston.

Aberavon moved to the Talbot Athletic Ground – then called the Central Athletic Ground - in 1921, the old ground having been used as allotments for the war effort, and the club entered what was to become its ‘golden era’.  They were crowned Welsh Club Champions four years running from 1923-24, and during that period had eight full caps in the line-up – a particularly impressive feat for a club which can boast 48 Welsh internationals in their history.  It was during this period that an Evening Post journalist used the term ‘Wizards of the West’ to describe the club – whether it was a oblique reference to the migrant workers of 50 years earlier we will never know.  It became an unofficial nickname, and the Wizard emblem and moniker were formally adopted after World War Two.

In 1935 a match between Wales and The Rest to commemorate King George V’s Silver Jubilee saw the entire Aberavon back division selected, but in general the club failed to match the success of the previous decade.  The Wizards were slow to recover from the ravages of the Second World War, but the expansion of the Port Talbot steelworks in the 1950s was reflected in the improving fortunes of the club.  In 1960-61 they won the Western Mail Championship for the only time, and in 1962, Tony O’Connor became their first British Lion when he toured South Africa.

As Welsh became the dominant force in British rugby in the late-60s, so Aberavon’s star was fading, and our 52-8 win at Talbot Athletic Ground on Easter Saturday 1969 was, at the time, the biggest away win in the club’s history.  Eleven tries were scored in front of the Rugby Special cameras, with Jim Shanklin and Andy Morgan claiming hat-tricks, and John Taylor helping himself to 20 points.  However, the introduction of competitive Cup rugby two years later re-awakened the Wizards, as they lost narrowly to Llanelli at St Helens in the semi-finals.  They went on to lose two consecutive finals to the Scarlets, in 1974 and 1975, and in 1977 three Wizards – John Bevan, Clive Williams and Allan Martin - were selected for the Lions tour of New Zealand.

The introduction of league rugby in 1990-91 saw Aberavon placed in the Second Division, although they were promoted at the end of the second season as runners-up to South Wales Police, with whom they’d shared two 15-15 draws.  This was the first of three promotions and subsequent relegations in the space of 10 seasons: they were also refused promotion in 1996-97 due to WRU politics (the RFU don’t have a stranglehold on bureaucracy and moving the goalposts), yet were promoted just four days before the start of the 1998-99 season when Swansea and Cardiff withdrew.

Since the formation of the regions in 2003, Aberavon have found themselves consistently in the top half of the Welsh Premiership, culminating in last year’s third-place finish, which won them a place in the inaugural British & Irish Cup.  They currently sit in 6^th place, ahead of Llanelli on points difference, with six wins and two draws from 12 games; last week’s result means that they’ve won, drawn and lost against Llanelli in the space of two months.  Friday night’s game could see the competition’s top two goalkickers in direct opposition – Ed Lewis-Pratt (6 from 6) and Matt Jarvis (5 from 5) are the only two frontline kickers with a 100% record from week one.

The two clubs met three times in pre-season friendlies during Martin Jones’ reign.  Welsh won 11-8 at ‘home’ (at Camberley) in 2005, but lost 13-8 away 12 months later.  Last year, however, the debut outing of the new ‘professional’ London Welsh resulted in a seven-try 48-17 win at Talbot Athletic Ground.  Last week’s results may suggest that some of the top Championship sides are not prioritising the Cup, but there’s a feeling on various chatboards that the competition is gaining support.  For Welsh, this is a chance to remind people ‘back home’ that we can be a big club again, and while some may dream of a day when we fight toe-to-toe with the regions, this is a first small step.

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