Judge Jude (From Free Press Series)

Judge Jude

Ex-Pontypool Rugby Club benefactor Bob Jude has launched a stinging attack on the club's current regime claiming that Pooler are a shadow of the team they were when he was in charge.

In a no-holds-barred interview with the Free Press, Jude claimed that:

The club should be judged solely on its league position.

Pontypool's record under him speaks for itself.

The only two people to have ever achieved anything at Pontypool are himself and Ray Prosser.

Pooler's current standard of rugby is not worthy of even the English third division.

The club is lacking any kind of leadership or internal structure

The press coverage he received while at the club was unfair.

The Free Press is in possession of a fax from Mr Jude which contains the final Welsh League Division One table from the 2002-2003 season - the last year Jude was in charge at the Park.

The table showed Pooler sitting proudly on top of the division, having scored more tries, more points and conceded fewer points than anyone else.

"The point I'm making is that since I've left, the team haven't been doing very well, have they?" Jude said.

"I took a lot of criticism from the Free Press when I was at the club. In the end I wouldn't let them in the Park because of all the bad publicity.

"I feel a lot of the coverage was unfair so I want to set the record straight."

And Jude is forthright about how his time with Pooler should be viewed. "The only way you can judge a team is on league position, he said: "If you look at Chelsea FC, there's no comparison between where they are now and where they were some time ago. It's the same with Pontypool but the other way round.

"Since I've left, Pontypool Rugby Club has achieved nothing.

"At the moment, they've got no chance of succeeding because of the leadership.

"The fact, is there's no leadership at all. To go forwards, you've got to have a structure in place. At Pontypool, there's no structure in place whatsoever. "I want to be judged on the three years I was there compared to what has been achieved since.

"You judge a team by league position and not by anything else.

"A successful team rises to the top and my record speaks for itself. "Only two people have ever achieved anything at Pontypool, that's Ray Prosser and me," he added.

Of the current squad, Jude said: "Welsh rugby at Pontypool's level is equivalent to the English third division, if that.

"If Pontypool entered the English third division they'd get relegated. "They've gone back to a forward type of game and score a try about once every three weeks.

"We averaged over five tries a game when I was in charge."

Pontypool RFC officials refused to reply directly to Mr Jude's comments. A spokesman said: "We do not wish to engage in a slanging match with Mr Jude.

"We acknowledge the contribution he made to Pontypool Rugby Club but it's water under the bridge now and we want to look towards the future."