AS the current crop of Black and Ambers look forward to a Principality Stadium cup final, more past Newport legends were toasted as the seventh batch of the club’s hall of fame inductees.

Doug Ackerman, Glynn Davidge, Allan ‘Archie’ Evans, Keith James, John Jeffrey, David Rogers and Matthew J Watkins were added to the list of Rodney Parade greats that have been lauded since the inception of the hall of fame in 2012.

Back row forward Ackerman, father of Wales international Rob, made his debut on Boxing Day 1949 against Birkenhead Park and went on to play 230 games for the club, taking on the Springboks in 1952 and New Zealand in 1954.

Davidge was famously part of the team that beat New Zealand in 1963, putting his body on the line against the All Blacks.

The back row forward made 270 appearances, beating the Australians in 1957 and pushing the Boks all the way in a 3-0 loss in 1961. He won nine Wales caps and toured South Africa with the Lions in 1962.

Scrum-half Evans made his debut for Newport aged 19 in 1968 and played for the club until 1978; the Wales B international made 278 outings for the Black and Ambers.

James dropped 101 goals for Newport in a 282-game career. The fly-half was also a prominent figure for the United and after his retirement coached the Black and Ambers with Jim McCreedy when Charlie Faulkner and Roy Duggan retired in 1988.

Jeffrey made 210 appearances in the Newport pack and captained the club in 1970/71 and 1971/2. The back row forward played 10 times for the Barbarians and played for Wales against the All Blacks in 1967.

Rogers made his debut in 1965 and went on to make 158 appearances and when his Newport career ended in 1980 he went on to serve on the club’s committee until 1989. The fly-half played alongside his twin brother John against Leicester at Rodney Parade in 1965.

Watkins was a cup winner with Newport in 2001 after joining the club four years earlier. He made 121 appearances for the club, scoring 35 tries, and the centre won 18 caps for Wales.

The event was organised by the Friends of Newport Rugby Trust, visit fonr.co.uk to find out more about membership and their fundraising activities.

Meanwhile, the Black and Ambers are selling tickets for Sunday’s finals Day at Principality Stadium when they play the third and final game.

Newport will lock horns with Merthyr for the WRU National Cup (kick-off 5.35pm), attempting to lift the trophy for the first time since 2001.

They cost £10 for adults and £5 for those aged 16 and under, with tickets (cash only) available from Rodney Parade on Monday (2-7pm), Tuesday (2-4pm), Wednesday (2-7pm), Thursday (2-7pm), Friday (2-7pm) and Saturday (midday to 4pm).

Newport hall of fame

2012: Tony Brown, Arthur Gould, Dan Griffiths, Ken Jones, Bryn Meredith, Rhys Morgan, Richard Mullock Dai Pattison, Tommy Vile, Dai Waters, Dai Watkins, Jeff Watkins.

2013: Fred Birt, Ian Ford, Glenn George, Shane Howarth, Walter Martin, Brian Price, Colin Smart, Colin Taylor, Mark Workman.

2014: Roy Burnett, Gareth Evans, Geoff Evans, Brian Jones, the Phillips family, Roger Powell, Charles Pritchard, Alan Thomas, Dick Uzzell, Stuart Wakins.

2015: Marc Batten, Andrew Brown, Brian Creswell, William Morris, Alf Panting, Peter Rees, the Travers family, John Widdecombe.

2016: Dai Burcher, RT Evans, Bill Everson, Keith Jarrett, Ian Jones, Horace Lyne, Norman Morgan, Gerry and Ray Lewis, Rod Snow, Sam Waldron.

2017: John Anthony, George Boots, Andrew Coombs, Fred Cox, Dennis Perrott, Paul Turner, Paul Watts, Jack Wetter.

2018: Doug Ackerman, Glynn Davidge, Allan Evans, Keith James, John Jeffrey, David Rogers, Matthew J Watkins.