Rugby journalist Huw S Thomas assesses the impact Lee Rees has had on the semi-pro game in Wales
Pic: Stuart Ladd
Llandovery captain Lee Rees’s announcement that he will be leaving at the end of the season brings an end to a remarkably long and fruitful 17 year old association with the club.
The diminutive Penygroes born Rees – the Shane Williams of the semi-pro game – first appeared for the Drovers as a 17 year old in a friendly against North Wales in August 2008 and went on to become the most exciting runner and dangerous loose play attacker in the whole of Welsh semi-pro rugby.
Rees will continue as Head of girls Rugby at Llandovery College but will also take up the challenge of coaching Whitland.
“At 35, I have achieved all I’ve wanted with a fine club” said Rees “and it’s time to give opportunities to the talented youngsters that are coming through”
“A big thank you to the coaching staff, in particular Euros {Evans} and Potts {Gareth Potter}for giving me the honour of captaining this great club and the trust in wearing the nine shirt all these years”
“Euros has been my guide and mentor for nigh on 20 years through school and club and I owe him such a lot”
“For a small club, we have achieved so much and I was lucky enough to be part of three WRU Cup wins, two Premiership /SRC titles and four consecutive Premiership Sevens titles.”
“My late father Gareth who never missed a game that I played would have been so proud of it all.”
“I am keen to get into coaching at the highest level I can and Whitland have given me the chance to develop as a coach.”
“Perhaps one day, I will return to help coach Llandovery – but hey I’m not finished yet” he reminded everyone – “we’re within touching distance of the SRC quarter-final play offs and we’ll not let go of the WRU Cup without a fight.”
“I will expect nothing but anything is possible!”
Euros Evans is a man of few words but they are invariably measured and apt.
“Lee has been the ultimate “one-club man” in an era where such loyalty is rare.
“His contribution to Llandovery’s recent success is immeasurable.”
“He didn’t just witness the club’s rise to the top, he drove it.”
“From man of the match performances in Cup finals to his tireless leadership as captain, he has helped turn Llandovery into a trophy winning team.”
“To many, he is the very best Drover ever because he combines technical excellence with an unmatched loyalty. He stayed, he fought, and he won, proving that you don’t need a regional contract to be one of the most respected figures in Welsh rugby.”
“There is a strong argument that if Lee had moved to the number nine jersey earlier in his career, the professional regional pathway would have been unavoidable.”
“His service is crisp, but it’s his vision and sniping threat that keep back rows honest.”
“In an era dominated by size and power, Lee showed that quick thinking and fierce competitiveness can still tilt the balance.”
“He has been wonderful for Llandovery”
The last decade has been quite by far the most successful era in the entire history of Llandovery rugby and scrum half Rees has been at its very heart.
His carefree spirit and adventurous approach to the game has influenced those around him into making the Llandovery style of rugby admired the length and breadth of Wales.
He reached his peak in the club’s annus mirabilis when the Drovers did the great treble – top of the league, SRC champions and WRU Cup winners.
Every newspaper report from east to west would invariably have reference to the danger the scrum half caused to every defence with his sharp distribution, quick tap penalties, daring darts and stabbing runs.
No defence was at its ease against him, opposition tactics were often based around the need to stop him at source and even go to dark lengths to nullify his influence.
His half back partners – James Garland, Jack Maynard and latterly Ioan Hughes – were beneficiaries of the attention paid to the scrum half, knowing that the threat he posed from the base of the scrum allowed them that split second of extra room and time to manoeuvre.
Rees became the supporters’ darling, their Saturdays lit up by his brilliance on the field or spoiled by the news that he was out injured.
With their hero at scrum half, they expected victory, without him they feared defeat, such was the talisman he became.
He was also the finest seven a side player to have ever represented the club, playing for Llandovery in four consecutive winning Premiership Sevens finals 2014-2017.
Rees had been in the Wales squad out in the IRB Dubai Sevens in 2009, alongside two Drovers in Ifan Evans and Rhodri Gomer Davies and played in the Commonwealth games in Delhi in 2010 when Wales lost to eventual winners New Zealand 31-10 in the quarter finals.
After a couple of seasons of international IRB sevens rugby, it looked likely that he would break into the full Scarlets squad.
Alas, the Scarlets gave him two games in the Anglo Welsh Cup before judging him too small for full back and not quick enough at scrum half!
That was to be Llandovery’s gain but it remains a mystery to this very day why he was never seriously considered for a professional contact.
There have been far less talented scrum halves to play for Wales, a sad indictment of the pathway into the professional and international system.
My first sighting of Rees was at the Intermediate Group National Districts U15 Sevens, in Llandovery, in May 2006 when he was in the Mynydd Mawr/ Dinefwr side that beat Llanelli 26-0 in the final.
The smallest 15 year old in sight, he had run, passed and tackled his little heart all day out before capping it all with a man of the match performance in the final.
Fast forward a year to a Welsh Schools League U18 game at LlandeilO – Tregib CS against Bishop Gore CS if my memory serves me right,
It was a damp, misty Saturday morning, a muddy, heavy pitch and the expectation of slugfest between two packs of bulky and not too skilful forwards.
From a vantage point behind the posts, I spot a tiny 15 year old of no more than 5”5” and nine stone soaking wet, run, float up the slope – not through but over the mud – side stepping defender after defender with astonishing ease.
That memory of him has never left me and from there he went on to Coleg Sir Gar where he became a star at both long and short versions of the game
He reached his brilliant best at the Welsh National Urdd Sevens at Parc Y Scarlets on April 23, 2009, when CSG beat Neath/Port Talbot College 43-19 in the final.
The South Wales Evening Post report read “The star of the day was little live-wire scrum half Lee Rees”
“Blessed with a wonderful acceleration from a standing start and with a side step of the stamp of Shane Williams, the ex-Tregib CS pupil scored 12 tries in six games, including a dazzling four in the semi-final win over Cowbridge CS”
“One swerving, stabbing run from his own line posted notice of a talent that will before very long bring him headlines at a higher level.”
After that brilliance I phoned up bookmaker William Hill.
As a company, they had boasted that they would quote a price on any sporting event, however obscure, obtuse or outrageous the bet.
I asked whether they would lay a £100 bet at 10/1 that a 17 year old Lee Rees would one day play for Wales at senior level.
A week later, and their research completed, they replied that they were ready to lay the bet, but with restrictions.
I could have £50 at 4/1 against Rees being capped – a desultory price that offered no value for money and which I promptly refused in disgust.
Sevens absences apart, Rees went on to give astonishing loyal service to Llandovery, resisting advances from English Championship clubs.
Whether at full back, wing or what was to become his preferred position at scrum half, Rees has been a tough competitor, brilliant team mate and inspirational motivator and left an indelible mark on Llandovery rugby.
He has been – as the Post reported back in 2009 – the Shane Williams of semi-pro rugby in Wales.
As he approaches his 400th game for the club and strives to get to 500 points, the club owes him a debt that is incalculable.
No player – as far as I know – has ever been given a testimonial to celebrate his commitment to the club cause over so many years.
Andrew “Cantona” Jones has played more games, Wyn Jones has gained greater honours and there may have been greater captains over the years, but no one has earned the right of a testimonial more than Lee “Scrappy” Rees.
So named after the cartoon character Scrappy-Doo – small in stature but brave, fearless and ultra competitive – Rees can arguably be the greatest servant that the Carmarthenshire club has ever had.
There are rumours that the Barbarians might invite him to play for them but in the meantime, Llandovery against a SRC Select XV or a Wyn Jones International XV at a full Church Bank would give the club and his loyal fans the chance to send the little man off in the style he deserves.