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Yappy Leads Blues to Darts Success

23rd October 2008


A dozen Welsh rugby stars were brought down to earth with a bump as they came face to face with 13 times world darts champ Phil Taylor last Tuesday night.

It was a case of The Powerhouses v The Power as four players from each of Cardiff Blues, Ospreys and Newport-Gwent Dragons took on the legendary king of the arrows at a specially arranged shoot-out organised by Worthington's. Who are also proud sponsors of the three regions taking part.
 
More than 350 fans crammed into the Hi-Tide Inn at Porthcawl for the extravaganza to promote darts in pubs.
 
Rugby fan Taylor is sponsored by ale brand Worthington's and is travelling the UK to help put darts back at the heart of the pub. The roll-call of players was as follows:
 
Cardiff Blues - Paul "Tito" Fish, John "Yappy" Yapp, Ceri "Truck Head" Sweeney and Ritchie "The Real Deal" Rees.
Ospreys - Adam "Bomb" Jones, Huw "Benny" Bennett, Andrew "The Bish" Bishop and Alun "Gwyn Boots" Wyn Jones.
Dragons - Rhys "Stinky" Thomas, Kevin "The Rat" Morgan, Gareth "The Mauler" Maule and Shaun "Des" O'Connor.
 
Each player went head to head with The Power in a game of 501 before an inter-club shoot-out with one player selected from each club by Taylor himself.
Dragons star Rhys "Stinky" Thomas lived up to his nickname when Taylor described him as "the worst player I've ever seen". However, his less than impressive performance was put in perspective by the late Ospreys replacement Alun Wyn Jones, now known in the Taylor household as “clearly the worst darts player on the planet”.
 
Thomas said: "I'm pretty devastated - I folded under the pressure!"
 
However, Blues front row forward John Yapp covered himself in glory and scooped the inter-club trophy for his team, beating off Thomas and Ospreys man Huw "Benny" Bennett and in a three way shoot-out.
 
Yapp said: "What a feeling - I've been playing a bit at home and it's come good tonight. It's been a great night with some great banter and it's another win for the Blues."
 
Taylor lapped up his battle with Wales' finest saying: "I work with sportsmen a lot and I was humbled to meet them tonight. They're a really great set of lads.
 
"These guys are pretty tough but I played doubles with Jocky Wilson for seven years - now he's tough!"
 
A great evening was made even more special with a fabulous £1,140 raised for the Mencap charity.
 
As part of Phil's campaign you can win a chance to play him at your local. Visit www.worthingtonsmasters.com