Her team may have had their backs to the wall as they slipped to a 51-10 defeat, but nothing was going to stop her from scoring.
The barnstorming back row forward picked up from the base of a scrum on the Bro Pedr 10 metre line, crashed through the first line of defence and then raced to the posts for one of the tries of game.
Watching on from the sidelines was her PE teacher and coach, Wales No 8 Sioned Harries, and probably thinking she couldn’t have done it any better herself.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY . .. Sioned Harries, Bro Dur PE teacher and coach
“Ruby is a very physical player and also very quick. It was a little tactic of ours and it worked perfectly. First half they were a little bit overwhelmed, which we were worried might happen, but at half time we told them to just go out and enjoy themselves because they had nothing to lose. They showed their heart and the second half was a different level and their mindset changed.
“That’s what we wanted to see from them and I’m really proud of them. They only beat us by one try the last time we met, but losing our star player Ava Thompson early in the game changed things for us. They are upset, but they loved it. That shows how much it means to them.”
By then, though, the game was up for the terrier-like Bro Dur side after the silky-smooth Brio Pedr team had run in a magnificent seven tries to take a 41-0 lead. When the two teams had met in an earlier tournament at Merthyr in their ’Road to Principality 2023’ adventure there had only been one score in it.
This time Bro Pedr struck early and were in completer control on the scoreboard at half time having raced into a 36-0 lead. Three-quarter Denia Evans started the try-fest as she powered over at the posts and scrum half Molly Jones followed suit moments later with the first of her two tries.
The tries kept coming and the pick of the first-half efforts came from Lily Evans, who powered up the left touchline to score from half-way. Phoebe Owen-Evans struck at the start of the second half with her second as she raced in from 40 metres, but then came the Bro Dur fightback.
John streaked away for her first try, had another ruled out for losing the ball as she dived to score and then crossed in the corner for a second. It was nothing less than the defiance of her side deserved.
Meanwhile, Molly Jones sped to the posts for the second time to make it nine tries in all for the highly talented and clinical Bro Pedr side.
WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY . . . Rugby Hub officer at Bro Pedr, Owain Bonsall
“It was a big win and it all came together on the big day for us. A lot of these girls play at Lampeter Rugby club and in their local girls cluster. All the girls are very keen and aren’t playing any other sports. We just want to keep them involved and come back here again next year perhaps.”
Scorers: Bro Dur: Tries: Ruby John 2. Bro Pedr: Tries: Deina Evans, Molly Jones 2, Phoebe Owen-Evans 2, Lily Evans, Layla Porter, Eva Davies 2; Cons: Eva Davies 3.
U12 FINAL TEAMS
Ysgol Bro Dur: Eliza Maggs, Moli Thomas, Ava Thompson, Lacey May Rhys-Jones, Thea Mai Davies-Bolger, Ruby John, Mylee Watkins, Nia Parera, Freyah Evans, Ffion Evans, Bobbi Crook, Sophia Spendiff, Rhonwen Jones, Cerys Stephens, Niamh ReedYsgol Bro Pedr: Layla Porter, Phoebe Owen-Evans, Deina Evans, Abbie Green, Eva Davies, Molly Jones, Julia Liecau, Mikayla Clements, Gwenno Herrick, Lily Evans, Maisie McCowan, Madie Powell
Reps: Tilly Keen, Skye Mills, Mark Thomas, Domika Parrish-Powell, Non Evans, Leah Jones
