The Wales Under 18 scrum half scored the first and last tries in a dramatic final game that determined which two teams went through to the final round in Coventry on Sunday 7 August.
Both teams needed to win to ensure of clinching their ticket to face the regional winners from the Aviva Premiership tournaments and it looked like the overall champions, the Dragons, were going to make it when they led 15-5 at half-time.
But two moments of madness in the second half saw Ethan Davies and Jonny Lewis head to the sin-bin and leave the Blues playing against five men at one stage. Even so, the Dragons fund a way to recover after falling behind 17-15 and somehow got their act together to lead22-17 going into the final play.
But that was when Blacker showed composure beyond his year to race clear for his second try of the night and clinch the title from under the noses of the champions – and send the Ospreys through to the final with them.
The tournament got off to an inauspicious start with controversy from start to finish in the opening clash between Cardiff Blues and Ospreys. The Ospreys opened the scoring with a penalty try, which resulted in Owen Jenkins picking up a yellow card for an alleged trip, and there was a second try from skipper Jonathan Spratt while he was off the field.
The referee indicted that Will Jones’ conversion kick had gone over – he earlier fluffed his lines from in front of the posts – and the Ospreys were cruising. The second half saw Jenkins make amends for his yellow card with a try before Luke Crocker raced over for a score which Ben Thomas converted to make it 17-12 to the home side.
Then came the final moment of controversy as Jay Baker grabbed a third Ospreys try to seemingly level the scores at 17-17. Jones couldn’t add the extras and when the final whistle blew the scoreboard had the result as a draw.
Then the officials got together, after a protest from Blues coach Richard Hodges, and ruled the Ospreys conversion void and the game went to the Blues 17-15.
Next on were the Welsh and overall Singha champions for 2015, the Dragons, boasting five of last year’s winning line-up. They found Iola Evans’ Scarlets a tough nut to crack and it was 7-7 at the break.
Aled Brew, a survivor from the 2009 Welsh World Cup Sevens winning squad, raced in for a try which Geraint Rhys Jones improved, but the two Rhodris, Davies and Jones, combined with a try and conversion in response for the Scarlets to level just before the break.
But the class of the Dragons came shining through in the second half as they added three converted tries to race into a 26-7 lead before Shaun Pearce grabbed a consolation score for the Scarlets at the death.
The Dragons then faced the short turn around and it showed in their first-half performance against the young Ospreys outfit. Although the classy Frewen raced over in the left corner inside the first minute, the rest of the half belonged to the Ospreys.
Steff Andrews made the most of a loose pass, and the fact James Benjamin went off for treatment, to race 70 metres for the equalising try and then Bridgend outside half Joe Scrivens took centre stage. He converted that Andrews score and then broke clear for a try of his own which he also converted to make it 14-5 at the break.
The crowd sensed an upset and the Dragons made life even more difficult for themselves when they attempted the miracle option with a long throw in five metres from their line and succeeded only in gifting a try to Spratt at the posts which Scrivens converted.
Jonny Lewis replied with two tries, both of which Ethan Davies converted, to get them into losing bonus point territory, but one final, uncharacteristic error ended their hopes of coming back from the dead when Jones failed to send his re-start 10 metres.
That defeat allowed the Blues, who qualified for the finals two seasons go, to pile on the pressure on the reigning champions and they did a good job of it against the Scarlets. They were three tries to the good by half-time, thanks to Jenkins, Dane Blacker and James Beale, but then had to contend with another two minutes without the services of Jenkins who picked up another yellow card.
The Scarlets hit back with tries from Nathan Edwards, made by a wonderful pop pass by Iolo Evans, and then Aaron Evans, who skinned Beale on the outside, but Rhodri Evans fatally hit the upright with his second conversion attempt to leave the gap at three points.
The game was in the balance until Ben Roach made the most of a turn over from a stunning tackle on Aaron Warren and the Blues were home and dry with try number four – and a vital bonus point victory.
That meant a Scarlets win in the final game would have given the top two teams to that point, the Blues and Dragons, a clear ride into the finals at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena. But the Ospreys put themselves in with a chance of a first trip to the showpiece event with a dominant display against arch-rivals the Scarlets.
The Ospreys raced into a 17-0 lead with tries from Baker, David Evans and Scrivens, but a try on the stroke of half-time from Edwards gave the Scarlets a sniff. The feet-footed Andrews put paid to any thoughts of a fightback when he sped 40 metres to the posts for the bonus pint try which Scrivens converted to make it 24-5 in the end to the Ospreys.
All to play for, then, in the final game. There were endless permutations, but the Dragons knew they had to win with a bonus point to guarantee a second successive title.
There was an explosive start for the home side, the Welsh champions in 2014, when Dane Blacker picked up a tap down from the kick-off and sped up the right hand touchline in the 22 to score in the corner. But the champions showed they are made of stern stuff by dominating the remainder of the half and replying with three tries.
Jonny Lewis ran in two of them and Lloyd Lewis grabbed the other, but the second half didn’t start so well Wales Sevens international Ethan Davies picked up a yellow card. That was the cue for a Blues comeback and it was helped by a second yellow card, this time for a swinging arm from Jonny Lewis after Jenkins had crossed for a try.
Joe Tomlinson then gave the Blues their 17-15 lead before GB Student international Chris Levesley seemed to have won the game for the Dragons with a thrilling, side-stepping break up the middle of the field for a try which was converted to make it 22-17 to the champions.
But there was just enough time for one final twist in a thrilling final game as Blacker sped away for the match winning try.
