Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

Llanelli Scarlets are backing the Carmarthenshire County Council-led campaign to tackle drink driving this Christmas. Hooker Ken Owens and outside half Rhys Patchell joined Carmarthenshire County Council Leader Cllr Emlyn Dole to launch the seasonal campaign at Parc y Scarlets. It is part of the council’s efforts to promote road safety across the county. It follows the success of Imogen Williams, a pupil at Coedcae School, Llanelli, who was highly commended in the All Wales Drink and Drug Driving Campaign Poster Competition. She received a cheque for £50 and received a framed certificate and an art set. Carmarthenshire’s road safety unit is focusing on raising awareness of the consequences of drink-driving using sporting analogies such as ‘Give Drink-Driving the Red Card’, ‘Kick Drink-Driving into Touch’, ‘Blow the Whistle on Drink-Driving.’ A social media campaign is being run to raise awareness of this campaign. Don’t fall foul of the drink-drive rules this Christmas – visit Carmar...

The funeral of the man who was recognised as ‘The Voice’ of Parc y Scarlets, Stradey Park and Stebonheath will be held on Friday (April 17). Tributes to Monro Walters have been pouring in since his sudden death on Saturday, March 28. “His family have been very moved by the loving tributes that have been paid to Monro,” said his friend Robert Lloyd. “They would like to express their gratitude to everyone. The tributes to Monro have given them strength to get through this very difficult period.” Mr Walters was 69. He lived in Pwll. He is survived by his wife Maxine and children Gethin, Rhys and Rhiannon. The funeral on Friday April 17, takes the form of a public service at Greenfield Chapel, 11am, followed by private burial at Holy Trinity Church, Pwll at 12.30pm. “We are expecting a large crowd of mourners at the funeral as we say our farewells to Monro, a man universally acknowledged in Llanelli as a gentleman and all-round ‘good guy’,” said Mr Lloyd. The funeral service at G...

It has taken a full 24 hours for the death of our dear friend Monro Walters to sink in. A man for all seasons - a voice for all occasions. Monro's sudden death leaves a massive hole in the life of the community we call Llanelli. It is hard to comprehend what Maxine and family are feeling. His departure was so swift that there is still a profound sense of disbelief. I was proud and privileged to call Monro a friend. But he was also much more - a committed professional, a wonderful colleague, a truly humble man with a lovely, warm and generous personality. He had a laugh that could kick-start a chorus. He could sing - but he could also inspire, inform and entertain just by being Monro and talking. The voice was class. Our last conversation was on Wednesday night. As speaker's secretary for Llanelli Rotary Club, he was responsible for persuading Llanelli Scarlets rugby coach Wayne Pivac to perform as guest speaker at our weekly meeting. Monro was unwell a...

Scarlets coach Wayne Pivac was the guest speaker at the weekly meeting of Llanelli Rotary Club at the Stradey Park Hotel, Llanelli. Here's a picture slideshow of the night -

The Jenkins Bakery is celebrating National Cup Cake Week. The event is organised by the British Baker magazine and website. To mark the occasion, the Llanelli-based bakery has produced special cup cakes which will be on sale all this week and next week. The Scarlets had a helping hand to launch National Cup Cake Week from rugby stars Jacobie Adriaanse and Frazier Climo. The players from the Llanelli Scarlets rugby region thought the cup cakes looked delicious. The Cup Cake Week special cakes include - COOKIE MONSTER CUP CAKE Our top quality sponge topped with various flavoured frostings, covered in coloured vermicelli and decorated with chocolate Maltesers for eyes and a small shortbread biscuit for a mouth, a great one for children. ROCKY ROAD CUP CAKE Our top quality chocolate sponge, topped with various flavoured frostings, decorated with mini marshmallows, small chocolate balls and scattered with milk chocolate. About National Cupcake Week This event is brought to yo...

Scarlets draw with Bath 26 points a piece offering encouragement for new coach Wayne Pivac | Llanelli Star : The Scarlets began life under new head coach Wayne Pivac with an entertaining 26-26 draw with old rivals Bath  at The Rec. The West Walians fought back from 26-14 down in the final quarter to give the New Zealander plenty of reasons to be encouraged ahead of the new Pro12 campaign, which starts against Ulster in three weeks time.

Picture slideshow from Llanelli Scarlets hero Phil John's Benefit Dinner Click on the headline link to the Llanelli Star to see Phil with his pals, including John Maclean, Robert Jones and Julian Lewis Jones.

Llanelli Scarlets stars caused a scrum among 230 pupils at Pembrey Primary School when they turned up to present 10-year-old Erin Meadows with a prize for her winning road safety painting. There were cheers and whoops of delight when Josh Turnbull and Kirby Myhill strode into the school hall to congratulate Erin for her winning “walking bus” painting. Head teacher Helen Jacob explained it had been difficult selecting an entry from so many pupils but it had been highly appropriate the competition organised to promote the schools walking bus should have been won by the daughter of the school’s popular lollipop lady, Alison. Mrs Jacob said more children were joining the walking bus following the completion of the a £558,000 grant scheme from the Welsh Government to fund footpath upgrades, cycleways and traffic management throughout Pembrey. There was public consultation for the scheme drawn up by Carmarthenshire council’s transport and engineering team supported by the Carmarthens...

Llanelli Scarlets and British and Irish Lions rugby legend Delme Thomas agrees that a cup of tea is always welcome as he chats with Dyfrig Davies (centre) and the Reverend Huw George at Blaenconin Chapel’s recent Cymdeithas Cacen a Chlonc (cake and 'clonc' chat society) social event in Llandysilio. During the lively function, Delme regaled his large audience with a host of interesting insights, from his much acclaimed rugby career.

Carmarthenshire’s Executive Board has agreed new terms on its financial agreement with Scarlets Regional Ltd, resulting in increased income for the county council. Under the amended terms, the club will pay interest on the council’s £2.616million loan at 3.5 per cent above the bank’s base rate, a deal that the Executive Board considered a better return than any other commercial investment. It means that the council will now receive £8,000 more in interest from the club per year – a figure which amounts to some £104,000 annually. In addition, the income thresholds at which the club is required to pay rent on the Parc Y Scarlets stadium have been dropped from £2.2million to £1.5million, and £2.8million to £2million, bringing forward the potential for the council to generate rental income for the facility. Cllr Jeff Edmunds, Executive Board Member for Resources, said: “This is a sound commercial decision – an interest rate of 3.5 per cent above the base rate makes commercial sense in the ...

Côr Meibion Llanelli were honoured with a visit by three rugby legends at their rehearsal session at Furnace Community Hall in Llanelli. Llanelli rugby heroes Derek Quinnell, Terry Davies and Doug Williams paid a visit as a tribute to the long-standing cooperation between the Scarlets and the choir. The three stalwarts of the Scarlets Former Players’ Association paid tribute to the years of support given by Côr Meibion Llanelli to rugby in Llanelli. “Most recently,” said Mr Quinnell, “the choir members turned out to support the opening of the Scarlets Rugby Heritage Trail and the unveiling of the rugby posts and Phil Bennett icon at Sandy Water Park.” Mr Quinnell presented Côr Meibion Llanelli musical director Eifion Thomas with a special limited edition Scarlets souvenir plate. The former Llanelli, Wales and British Lions forward added: “It is a small token of our appreciation as former players for the sterling service and support you have given to the game of rugby in Llanelli down...

The October meeting of Llanelli Rugby Business Network will again be held at the Scarlets Heart and Soul Café, Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli. The purpose of the network is to promote and enhance business in Wales, particularly within the local area. All attendees will be provided with the opportunity of introducing their business, the services they provide and the type of leads and introductions they are seeking, plus there will be plenty of opportunity for informal open networking. The main speaker at the event will be Chris Olchhawski and the theme of his talk will be “Word of Mouth.” Chris is a well-known Business Growth Advisor in South and West Wales and one of Nigel Botterril’s right hand men in the Entrepreneurs Circle. Registration for the event is via: www.chrisolchawski.eventbrite.com There will be a small charge of £10 for attending (which will include the cost of light refreshments) and is payable on the night. It is important that you register your interest prior to th...

A major new Scarlets heritage project has been given the go-ahead with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to inspire new generations in rugby and local history. The Scarlets have been awarded a £100,000 grant for a unique heritage trail that will celebrate Llanelli and its rugby club’s great history with the aim of inspiring young people to find out more about the rich culture and sporting legacy of the region. The Scarlets have been supported in their plans and bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) in a joint collaboration with Llanelli RFC, the former players association and Crys16, the Scarlets’ Supporters Trust along with support from stadium partners, Carmarthenshire County Council. The focus of the new heritage trail project based at Parc Y Scarlets is to inspire, safeguard and promote the great heritage and history of Scarlets rugby and its intrinsic links with Llanelli and people across the county. The trail will promote awareness of the link between local history and L...

The Scarlets marched on to their second success in the RaboDirect Pro12 league with a deserved win over Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun last night after showing fortitude in defence and mental alertness in turning their opponents mistakes into winning points. Glasgow had hoped to celebrate their first league game at Scotstoun but their attempts to play expansive rugby unravelled in the face of the Scarlets well organised defence.

A rare scarlet bloomer at the National Botanic Garden of Wales flowered on what was a big weekend for ‘Scarlets’. This striking Banksia coccinea (or ‘Scarlet Banksia’) burst into bloom the same time that Scarlets legend Stephen Jones played his last game for the club.

Llanelli Scarlets Director of Rugby Nigel Davies,left, was the the guest speaker at a recent meeting of Llanelli Rotary Club. He was welcomed to the meeting by Llanelli Rotary Club junior vice president Alan Owen.

Llanelli Scarlets coach Nigel Davies will be the guest speaker at Llanelli Rotary Club's weekly meeting at the Stradey Park Hotel, Llanelli, at 7.30pm on Wednesday.

Scarlets called on to prove their cup pedigree | This is South Wales Scarlets head coach Nigel Davies has called on his players to draw on their proud cup heritage when they go in search of a first knockout final in six years at Northampton on Sunday. The West Walians will again head to Franklin’s Gardens as underdogs in what promises to be an intriguing LV= Cup semi-final.

Ben Morgan to leave Scarlets for Gloucester | This is South Wales Scarlets and England No. 8 Ben Morgan has confirmed that he will join Gloucester at the end of the season. Morgan had a year left on his contract at Parc y Scarlets, but Gloucester have paid an undisclosed fee — thought to be around £100,000 — to sign the 23-year-old this summer.

BBC Sport - Centre Jonathan Davies signs new Scarlets contract Wales centre Jonathan Davies has signed a two-year contract extension keeping him at the Scarlets until the end of the 2013-2014 season. The moves bucks the trend of out-of-contract Wales-based players signing for French or English clubs.