The Drovers made it 12 wins in a row in the three years of the competition for the Principality Premiership clubs as they brushed aside all-comers with their specialist brand of the shortened game. Jack Maynard scored 21 points for them in the final as they beat Aberavon 46-21 with seven tries.
Having been given a tough opening game in round one against Bedwas, which they won 19-7, they demolished Bridgend 28-0 in the quarter-final and then used the magical feet of Lee Rees to open up the Cross Keys defence in the semi-final before going on to win 28-14.
Rees was the first and last scorer in a game in which the champions raced into a 21-0 interval lead before conceding two tries as an Ethan Davies inspired Cross Keys threatened to cause an upset. But Rees’ second score put an end to the fightback and set-up a final showdown with Aberavon.
The Wizards showed they were up for the fight with a 19-12 first round triumph over Newport before hammering Llanelli 36-12 in a game that saw Swansea Uplands speedster Mike Wilson grab the headlines with a hat-trick of tries.
Carmarthen Quins went into the semi-final on the back of good wins over Neath and Bargoed and took the lead through a try by Lee Taylor that was sparked by one of the best players on display, Gwion Jones. But then the Wizards weaved their magic to score four unanswered tries, all of which Steff Williams converted.
The Drovers were quick out of the traps in the final as Maynard crossed for the opening try, but the Wizards hit back with a breakaway try from Williams and another neat effort from Nathan Brown to take a 14-7 lead.
Maynard crossed in the last move of the half for a try which he again improved to level the scores and he added the extras to Aaron Warren’s try at the start of the second period. Warren had helped himself to a hat-trick in the 2015 final, but not even he could match the blistering pace of Wilson as he took a quick tap penalty and raced 60 metres to score.
Jacob Flynn converted to level things up again at 21-21, but Warren grabbed a second try and Lex Botha soon followed him to the line to make the hat-trick safe. Aaron Evans and Shaun Pearce added further scores to make the winning margin 25 points in the end.
Teams In Final
Llandovery: Aaron Warren, Lee Rees, Jack Maynard, Rhodri Davies; Aron Evans, Rhodri Jones, Richard Rees. Reps: Stuart Worrall, Mike Evans, Lex Botha, Shaun Pearce, Scott Gibson.
Aberavon: Mike Wilson, Steff Andrews, Steff Williams, Jacob Flynn; Nathan Brown, Matthew Jacobs, Rheon James. Reps: Jamie Sturgess, Richard Carter, Matthew Jenkins, Joe Gage.
Foster’s National 7s
Round 1
Llandovery 19, Bedwas 7
RGC 1404 7, Bridgend 19
Ebbw Vale 20, Cardiff 42
Merthyr 7, Cross Keys 40
Aberavon 19, Newport 12
Llanelli 27, Swansea 19
Neath 10, Carmarthen 17
Bargoed 36, Pontypridd 5
Cup Quarter-Finals
Llandovery 28, Bridgend 0
Cardiff 17, Cross Keys 28
Aberavon 36, Llanelli 12
Carmarthen 35, Bargoed 12
Cup Semi-Finals
Llandovery 28, Cross Keys 14
Aberavon 28, Carmarthen Quins 5
Cup Final
Llandovery 46, Aberavon 21
PLATE
In the Plate competition, newly promoted RGC1404 battled their way through to the final with 28-18 win over Bedwas and then a 26-12 semi-final over Merthyr. Newport made up for their early exit from the main competition by beating Swansea (22-14) and then Pontypridd (40-5).
One of the north Walian club’s former players, Llywarch ap Myrddin, came back to haunt his old teammates as he sped away for two tries in the first-half of the final to give Newport a 21-7 lead. Ellis Roberts grabbed one back for RGC, but Arwel Robson rounded off the opening 10 minutes with a try and conversion of his own for the Black & Ambers.
Elliot Frewen and Wes Cunliffe then crossed for further Newport scores before Dafydd Jones grabbed a consolation score for RGC in the last move of the match to cut the gap to 33-14.
Teams in Final
RGC1404: Sam Jones, Ellis Roberts, Adam Sabizi, Josh Leach; Shaun O’Rourke, Dan Owen, Will Bryan. Reps: Henri Roberts, Alex Schwartz, Dafydd Jones
Newport: Elliot Frewen, Chav Smith, Arwel Robson, Llywarch Ap Myrddin; Hayden Palmer, Tom Pascoe, Jack Goodey. Reps: Wes Cunliffe, Lloyd Phillips, Srdan Mavic
Plate Quarter-Finals
Bedwas 19, RGC1404 28
Ebbw Vale 21, Merthyr 24
Newport 22, Swansea 14
Neath 12, Pontypridd 33
Plate Semi-Finals
RGC1404 26, Merthyr 12
Newport 40, Pontypridd 5
Plate Final
RGC1404 14, Newport 33
WOMEN’S NATIONAL FOSTER’S SEVENS
The Scarlets had Team GB Olympian Jaz Joyce in their squad as they went in search of another title, but found themselves trailing to a determined Dragons side expertly marshalled by Welsh international outside half Elinor Snowsill.
Joyce had showed off her blistering pace with two tries in a first round, 19-7 win over the Ospreys and was on the scoresheet again to round off a convincing semi-final triumph over the Blues by 35-7.
She sat out the first half of the final, when the Dragons took a 12-7 lead thanks to tries from Snowshill and Sian Williams, but appeared in the second half. She ran down Poppy Cleall when a try seemed certain for the Dragons.
Elen Evans followed Jess Kavanagh-Wiliams to the line for the Scarlets at the start of the second half and with a Jodie Evans conversion the scores were tied at 12-12. Kavanagh-Williams then picked up a yellow card for stupidly trying to impede a throw-in and that allowed Irish international Claire Molloy to make superior numbers count as she sped to the posts for the try in the last play of the game.
Snowsill added the conversion and also picked up the ‘Jaz Joyce Trophy’ as the Player of the Tournament.
Teams in Final
Scarlets: Jess Kavanagh-Williams, Elen Evans, Jodie Evans, Ffion Lewis; Dyddgu Hywel, Nia Davies, Rachel Taylor, Reps: Nat Walsh, Jaz Joyce, Cary Jones
Dragons: Amberley Ruck, Claire Molloy, Elinor Snowshill, Sian Williams; Rebecca de Filippo, Poppy Cleall, Rebecca Belcher. Reps: Cerys Hale, Lauren Tracey, Rosian Payton, Eve Jones
Women’s National 7s
Round 1
Blues 12, Dragons 19
Scarlets 19, Ospreys 7
Semi-Finals
Scarlets 35, Blues 7
Ospreys 7, Dragons 10
Final
Scarlets 12, Dragons 19
