In what was always going to be one of the toughest away days in the season against the third-place Otters, Pontypool found themselves five points adrift with 15 minutes to go before Rhodri Jones ran in a third try for the visitors with 10 minutes to go and Matthew Jones added the extras to put his side ahead.
Brendan Lampitt and Rhodri Usher scored the other tries for Pooler and Jones ended with 12 points to end the season with 168 points in league and cup matches. It was only the third game of the season in which the champions failed to pick up a bonus point as they ended with a total of 107 points out of a possible 110.
Since the Championship was instigated in 2013, no team had gone through the season unbeaten, but Pontypool’s ‘Invincibles’ managed to go one better than the previous season when they won the title with 21 wins in 22 matches. They now join Ebbw Vale in winning back to back titles, matching the Steelmen’s achievement of 2013 and 2014, when they lost only two games in two seasons.
Everything improved for the champions from last season. They ended with nine more points, scored 121 more points and ran in 24 more tries.
Their 139 tries in 22 games came at an average of 6.31 per game, compared to Ebbw Vale’s best of 6.11 per game in 2013 and wasn’t far behind Merthyr’s record of 6.50 in 2016. They only conceded 30 tries, one less than in the previous season, at an average of 1.36 per game.
The battle for the runners-up spot is set to go down to the wire with last season’s Division 1 West champions Trebanos moving into second place with their 39-29 home win over basement boys Glynneath.
There were six tries for the home side, with two each for Steffan Lewis and Nathan Jones, and they will complete their outstanding first Championship campaign with a return fixture with Glynneath on 5 May. They currently lead
Narberth by three points in the battle for the runners-up spot, but both Narberth and fourth placed Tata Steel have a game in hand.
They meet in Narberth on Saturday, by which time Tata will also have hosted Bedlinog as they look to close their four point gap on Trebanos. Further down the table, Newbridge completed their campaign with an eight try, 50-39 home win over Newcastle Emlyn.
Further down the table, Cardiff Met’s 26-20 home defeat left them in a battle with Skewen to avoid finishing one off the bottom. Skewen have a game in hand, and are five points behind the students.
