Big guns pull out of the KO cup (From Milford Mercury)

Big guns pull out of the KO cup

9:58am Wednesday 1st July 2009

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Local rugby giants Narberth RFC and Whitland RFC have made the shock announcement that they won’t take part in next season’s Pembrokeshire knockout cup competition.

The top two teams in the county play in division one west and have played each other in the final for the past four years.

Telegraph Sport highlighted the fact in an article on the back page only last month that the county’s big two had, by no fault of their own, devalued the KO cup and turned it into something of a laughing stock.

It seems that Telegraph Sports’ harsh words struck a cord with the Otters and Borderers camps, as both have now acted and written letters to the Pembrokeshire district rugby union stating that they won’t enter next season’s KO Cup.

There definitely wasn’t anything to be gained by the top two consistently dishing out big hidings to most teams in the locality. So thankfully, common sense has now prevailed and the KO Cup can once again return to a level playing field.

However, both top clubs must be applauded for their sporting actions and the rest of the county rugby clubs will surely appreciate them dropping out.

Telegraph Sport understands that the top two will still be able to host a final – but that doesn’t mean every season – a point that might have been misconstrued the last time the top two dropped out of the cup around six years ago.

Pembrokeshire and district rugby union secretary Charles Davies said: “We’ve received letters from both clubs saying they are not entering next seasons KO Cup. We thank them for sportingly stepping down. That’s not to say if circumstances change in the future that they can’t be re-instated.”

The big two will concentrate their efforts next season on trying to gain promotion to the Premiership. No club in the county has ever reached the dizzy heights of playing at the highest level.

“This announcement has given the KO cup a real shot in the arm, and now it can go from strength to strength,” added Davies.

The first round draw for the 2009/10 Pembrokeshire KO Cup will be made on July 29th at Aberystwyth, where the annual general meeting of the Pembrokeshire and district rugby union will take place.

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