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Luke leads by example for the Scarlets under 18s
Luke Hamilton originally hails from Pembroke, where he started out his rugby playing career with the Scarlets’ junior section and now he is a Welsh international several times over, as well as being captain of the Llanelli Youth team and a regular member of the highly successful Coleg Sir Gar XV which has swept all before them over the past two seasons.
Luke is just 18 and plays as a back row forward, or sometimes second row, with the college but he has also gained experience with the senior side at Llanelli which plays in the Premier section of the Welsh pyramid system. In fact, he enjoyed 20 minutes as a replacement against Llandovery in a 13-13 draw between Christmas and New Year, as well as making it onto the bench for the match against Neath at The Gnoll, but without coming into the action.
International recognition and Scarlet Youth in final
Despite being a year young, Luke also played for the final stages of the Welsh under 19 team which took on Australia at Colwyn Bay. Wales eventually lost 10-6 in a hard-fought tussle but he enjoyed the experience, nonetheless, and will hold him in good stead for the future.
He played three times for Wales under 16s in France as they beat the host nation, England and Italy, taking on the role of pack leader, with parents Helen and John watching the first two matches, dashing back to Pembroke to sort a few things out and then rushing back to watch Luke and the rest of the Welsh team complete a hat-trick of victories. Mum and dad are great supporters, as is sister Emma (14), and Luke is very quick to praise all the help he has had from family, Pembroke RFC and coaches in the county.
He was also in the Welsh under 18 side which beat Italy last campaign and was looking forward to flying out to Italy for the return match but got injured in a college game and so had to miss out on another Welsh cap.
Luke has also had a good season with the Scarlets under 18s, who won six of their seven matches en route to a play-off final against their counterparts from the Cardiff Blues, who boast a 100% record after beating Luke and Co by 18-6. The match is due to be played at Aberavon and the Scarlets are eager to beat the hot favourites after winning their other matches against North Wales (41-0 and 22-6), the Ospreys (22-16 and 40-27), plus the Dragons (19-13 and 22-8).
Unbeatable college team
Luke stays in Llanelli during the week so that he can maintain his studies, staying in an apartment on the North Dock with another young rugby player called Joel Galley, from North Wales, and they join the rest of the team in training hard for the college, as well as the Scarlets’ youth. All the effort has certainly paid off at Coleg Sir Gar (Carmarthenshire College) because they have enjoyed amazing success.
They won the British Colleges Cup at Droitwich RFC, West Midlands and their route to the final, included wins over top class Welsh colleges including Neath and Bridgend and then Hartpury College, Myerscough College and finally Oaklands College, who are attached to Gloucester, Sales Sharks and Saracens respectively, beating Oaklands 27-22.
This victory brought down the curtain on an exceptional season in which Coleg Sir Gar picked up the Welsh Schools League Championships, The Welsh Schools 7s, the British Colleges Elite League Championships (South-West) and the British Colleges Cup.
Super 16s’ success
Not content with that little lot, Coleg Sir Gar also won England's top 15-a-side schools tournament, called the ‘Super 16s’, sponsored by Gullivers Travel, when they beat Bristol's Colston's School 21-3 in the final.
The Llanelli-based tertiary college won the title by playing attractive and attacking rugby over two intense days of competition at Broadstreet RFC's ground near Coventry where matches were played over 12 minutes for each half, and with stamina needed since they played seven games in 48 hours. Wasps, Leicester, Gloucester, Northampton, Bristol and Sale sent their feeder college sides, but Sir Gar won six of their seven games — three on the first day and three plus a draw on the second day — to remain the only unbeaten side in the tournament.
On the first day, they started off with a narrow 15-14 win over Colston's, but then moved up a gear to beat John Cleveland College 24-0 and Wilmslow HS 31-7. Day two began with a 3-3 draw with Gloucester's Hartpury College, before sweeping Bridgend College aside 27-5. Swansea College suffered next, overrun 56-0 and the win put Sir Gar into the final and a rematch with Colston's. They duly won 21-3 and it rounded off a terrific effort in which Sir Gar ran up 158 points in seven games while conceding just 29. It’s small wonder then that Luke is enjoying himself as a key back rower in the side!
Pembrokeshire Scarlets start
It all seems a long time since he started out as a prop at Pembroke with Tab Jenkins as his coach at under 10 level, progressing to play in the centre at county level for the schools and district level under the watchful eyes of Robin Davies and Steve Parry. Robin suggested he should switch to second row and he was part of the local Scarlets’ team which won the under 15s title as they beat Robin’s Crymych team! Luke toured South Africa with the county under 16s and they beat Natal Sharks and the South African Development squad – and last season went to America with Coleg Sir Gar.
Other sports
Luke was also a more than useful footballer in his younger days as he played as a goalkeeper for the Tenby under 14 side which won the Pembrokeshire League and cup before missing out on a rare treble as they lost in the West Wales Cup Final. He was invited to Cardiff City for trials but decided that his future lay in the oval ball game.
He also played cricket for Lamphey in what he described as a ‘slogger and fielder’ but hasn’t really got time to play the summer sport now.
And finally . . .
Ask Luke about his future aspirations and would readily admit that his aim is to play for the Scarlets and follow other locals like Dominic Day and Jonathan Davies into staking a regular place in the squad at Parc y Scarlets. He knows that it will take a great deal of hard work but he is more than ready for the challenge, having showed total dedication to the cause over many years – and there is no doubt that if commitment and skill levels are anything to go by then we will see Luke Hamilton proudly wearing the Scarlets shirt on day!
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