Rugby legend Sir Gareth Edwards will be the special guest at a fundraising concert in Cwmbran to support his cancer charity, which has helped a local teenager undergoing treatment.
Gethin Evans, 19, has played rugby for Croesyceiliog RFC since joining the under-eights. Earlier this year, he was diagnosed with cancer in his lower femur.
The Sir Gareth Edwards Cancer Charity has supported him during his treatment, leading to the ‘Gig for Gethin’ being organised for Friday 23 January 2026 at 7pm at Croesyceiliog School.
I met Rhys Evans, Gethin’s dad, and his friend Martin Jones, from Pontnewydd Male Choir, for a coffee to find out more.
Rhys said: “He was having trouble with his knee [about seven months ago]. He plays rugby for Croesy, just going between youth and seniors at the time. He goes to the gym a lot and we thought he always does weights that are too heavy, so he’d strained something.
“He went to a few rugby-related physios and they didn’t really pick up anything, just said it was a muscle injury. This went on and then a friend of mine recommended a consultant at Nuffield Health.
“He was a specialist in orthopaedic knees. We went there and had an MRI scan…He said, ‘There’s no easy way to say this, but your son has got a tumour in his leg.’
‘Rare cancer’
“He was 18 at the time. It’s a very, very rare cancer. When people are older, it’s still a shock, but people get old and you expect it a bit more. But 18? He [the consultant] said, ‘I’ll send you straight to the Heath.’”
Gethin has been undergoing treatment, scans, chemotherapy and appointments across Cardiff’s Velindre Hospital, the Llewellyn Teenage Cancer Trust unit at University Hospital of Wales, and The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham.
Rhys said their lives have been “turned upside down” but described Gethin as a “really positive lad, he really is.”
He said: “The consultant in Birmingham was very, very positive, which is what you want to hear. It sort of relaxes you a bit. Before we knew the treatment plan, you’re in the great unknown of not knowing what lies ahead, what the plan is, how serious it is.”
Rhys trains at Cwmbran Stadium’s gym with Martin. When Martin heard about the help Gethin had received from Sir Gareth’s charity, the idea of a fundraising concert began to take shape.
Pontnewydd Male Choir
Pontnewydd Male Choir will perform at the event, joined by soloist Paola, a guitarist who was in the year below Gethin at St Alban’s RC High School.
Rhys said: “Gethin’s rugby club, Croesyceiliog, have been really good, really supportive – the committee, his friends and the senior players. He’d just gone into seniors. He was captain at under-14s and under-16s and then went into youth.
“He played two years with the youth. While he was at youth, he was the first youth player to play for the seniors while still 18. They needed him for a cup game down in Taffs Well.
“And then he played a league game, while still in youth because they were short in second row, against Abercarn. He played the whole game.”
Former top rugby players including Sir Gareth, Sam Warburton, Neil Jenkins and Lee Jarvis have sent Gethin video messages to show their support.
Tickets for the concert
Tickets are £10 and available from:
- Croesyceiliog RFC – 01633 483583
- Martin Jones – 07977 555935
- Rhys Evans – 07545 828578
- Any choir member
The evening will also include a raffle and an auction of rugby memorabilia, with all proceeds going to the charity.