Brain-injured player to compete at international tournament

A Welsh rugby player left with brain damage and severe sight loss after a teenage bike crash is preparing to compete in a global mixed ability tournament next week.

Jak Powles, 35, will represent Port Talbot Panthers at the International Mixed Ability Rugby Tournament in Pamplona, Spain, joining 1,500 players from around the world.

Powles was 15 when he was hit by a car while cycling to school.

He spent five-and-a-half months in hospital, nearly died, and had to relearn how to walk and talk.

Powles said: “To be back playing rugby again is amazing after what I’ve been through.

“And the opportunity to go to a World Cup is out of this world.”

As a teenager, Powles played for Brynteg Comprehensive in Bridgend, won an under-15 cap for Wales’ rugby league side, and trialled for the Great Britain team in St Helens.

He now plays alongside his father, Carl, at Port Talbot Panthers. Carl also acts as his son’s guide on the pitch.

Carl said: “Jak was a really good rugby player and he loved playing the game.

“When that was taken away twenty years ago, we never thought he’d be able to play rugby again.

“But seven years ago we had the opportunity to start this side, Port Talbot Panthers, and it’s done Jak and me no end of good.”

Explaining his on-pitch role, he said: “I act as facilitator.

“I can catch it and give the ball to Jak who runs into contact, but because of Jak’s brain injury he is only ‘catch tackled’, where he goes to ground and releases the ball. It works well.”

Mixed ability rugby features mainstream players alongside those with disabilities.

The Panthers include players with cerebral palsy – a condition affecting movement and coordination – and amputees. Powles is currently the team’s only visually impaired player.

The fourth edition of the tournament, also known as the mixed ability world cup, begins on 22 June.

It began in Bradford in 2015 and has expanded significantly.

This year’s competition features 32 teams from 22 countries, including four from Wales: Port Talbot Panthers, Swansea Gladiators and Llanelli Warriors in the men’s tournament, and Merched Cymru in the women’s.

The format follows standard rugby union, with uncontested scrums for safety.

Despite his visual impairment, Powles plays hooker and takes line-out throws.

Rugby has played a key role in Powles’ recovery.

Shortly after his accident, he joined Brynteg’s under-18 touring side for a trip to South Africa, supported by teacher Peter Cavalli, who had visited him frequently in hospital.

Carl said: “He had a really supportive teacher, Peter Cavalli, who visited him in hospital lots and suggested the tour.

“And we played one game where Jak had a line-out throw and that was the start of it. Jak fought a battle 20 years ago and he’s still fighting now.”

Carl, who chairs the Port Talbot Panthers, said the team has transformed lives.

He added: “There’s guys who started with us with zero confidence, people who thought they’d never play again, and you see their confidence come back. It’s life-changing.”

He said the local community had been “really supportive”, adding: “They’ve gone through so much with the steel works recently but they’ve still helped us with fundraising and making it possible for us to go.”

Powles said rugby had been “brilliant” for him both socially and in terms of fitness.

He said: “But the main winner is I’m out there playing rugby again. Win, lose or draw I want to play rugby. I’m ready, so let’s go for it.”