Penallta Rugby Club are taking the time to make all supporters, officials and players of the club aware of the tragic news that Jonny Wright’s 18-month old daughter Ruby, died suddenly on Monday.

This is dreadful news and news that has stopped all of us in our tracks. Jonny, as usual, played for Penallta last Saturday and within two days was struck by a tragedy that is hard to contemplate.

In a world dominated by social media news travels very quickly indeed. Given Jonny’s popularity at Penallta, his status as a leading player in Division 1, and of course the awful shock of what has happened, news spread very rapidly. Penallta Rugby Club wanted to wait until Jonny’s family were visited personally before publicly making this statement. The messages of support and goodwill, not just from friends and people associated with our own club, but from other rugby clubs throughout Wales, has been heart-warming.

Nothing we can say can begin to diminish the loss and sadness that Jonny, his girlfriend Tasha and his family have suffered, but let’s hope that the messages of support provide some degree of comfort. Rugby is a great sport and Penallta is a great family club. It is touching that such a gladiatorial sport can produce such a loving and affectionate response when a player suffers personal tragedy. We are sure Jonny is enormously appreciative of the lovely messages so many people have sent his way.

A moment like this certainly involves a great deal of perspective and it seems almost trivial to talk about rugby. But Jonny is an integral part of Penallta Rugby Club, and as a member of our rugby family it would be remiss of us not to mention why Jonny is so important to us.

Jonny has achieved the status he has in the sport through the abilities and performances he has shown on the field. As a champion outside half Jonny has provided more nuggets of memorable rugby brilliance over the past two years than any other Penallta player during that period. Who can forget the cup run of 2012 when Penallta won the Swalec Plate at the Millennium Stadium and Jonny, in his nonchalant manner, picked up the man-of-the-match awards in both the semi-final and final. In the semi-final he kicked seven kicks out of seven. And what of the Merthyr fixture last year, a game in which Penallta were losing all game, until the last moment of the match, when Jonny, hampered by semi-consciousness and missing teeth after an earlier bang to the face, drop-kicked a goal from 40 metres to win the game.

These exquisite moments, all now part of the great history of our club, are moments that Jonny has given us to share. There have been countless others, enough to fill a career. Safe to say that Jonny is a magnificent rugby player, a tough and inspired winner, a loyal and fearless competitor, an uniquely skilful talent, – one of those wizard players who does things in training that make people stop and applaud – and a clubman and a friend to all of us. The fact he has achieved what he has, in the glorious number 10 shirt so famed and revered in Wales, after playing all his youth rugby as a hooker, is testimony to the extraordinary talent he is.

Jonny wants the Penallta fixtures to go ahead this week. And he wants us to win. That is typical of the man. Penallta Rugby Club is proud to call him one of our own.

But more importantly, and aside from the rugby, Jonny is a family man. Jonny and his girlfriend Tasha have been the proud parents to Ruby for the past 18 months and they will treasure those months forever. Ruby was cruelly taken away from them this week and to provide emotional help to parents at moments like this is very difficult, but Penallta Rugby Club will do what it can to support Jonny and his family in other ways over the coming weeks. Jonny has shared his wonderful talents with us, now when he needs us most, it is important that we share what we can with him.

Firstly, Penallta Rugby Club are setting up the Ruby Wright Fund. The Fund will be handled by Gavin Jones, one of Jonny’s best friends. The idea was put forward by Gavin after he heard the news and is aimed at providing friends and fellow players, plus the supporters and sponsors, with an opportunity to generously donate support through the Fund.

It is a selfless gesture typical of Gavin, and indicative of the immediate desire of Jonny’s fellow players to want to do something to help . Please feel free to contribute what you can to help Jonny and his family through this extremely difficult time, either by liaising with Gavin directly after the Glamorgan Wanderers game, or contributing to one of the many collection buckets in circulation during the match.

Helping Jonny through the Ruby Wright Fund is the best way to bolster the support that Penallta Rugby Club are directly giving Jonny and his family. At short notice, a band-night has been scheduled for Saturday 21st September and all proceeds from the evening, including the bar profits, will be donated to the Ruby Wright Fund. This event will supplement other contributions which include the Penallta RFC v Glamorgan Wanderers gate-takings as well as the 1st, 2nd and youth teams beer kitties that players from across the club have kindly donated.

After the home game against Heol-y-Cyw next Saturday and the band-night some of the players, led by Gavin, will personally hand the proceeds of the Fund over to Jonny and his family as a gesture of sympathy and condolence from all of us who want to show our support .

There is a little more to say than to collectively send our deepest sympathies to Jonny and Tasha and their families. All of us affiliated with Penallta Rugby Club have them in our thoughts and are truly shattered by the news. From despair let there be hope and may Jonny and Tasha know that they will always be enormously supported by all of us at Penallta Rugby Club.

Martyn Rowe
& all at Penallta RFC