The Wizards made an early breakthrough when hooker Ieuan Davies finished off a wide attack with what proved to be the only try of the day for the home side. Aled Thomas knocked over the conversion on his way to another telling contribution of 11 points from his deadly accurate boot.
“We played some good stuff at times but lacked a clinical edge and didn’t take our opportunities as we should have,” admitted Thomas.
“It was a big positive for us that we controlled the last 10 minutes after regaining the lead. The pack was immense and played the full 80+ minutes to set a platform for us to win.
“I’m pleased that the important kicks went over for me, but that was a reward to the forwards for their work. It’s going to be a tight league this season and results like this count for a lot.”
Thomas added a penalty to the early try to hoist his side into a 10 point lead, but the Newport response emphatic. Full back David Richards firstly spun out of a tackle to score and then wing Harri Lang raced over from an attacking scrum.
Matt O’Brien converted the Richards try and that gave the visitors a 12-10 interval lead. They didn’t make the greatest of starts to the second half, losing No 8 Josh Skinner to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on as he conceded the penalty that allowed Thomas to hit the target again to edge his side back in front.
The deteriorating weather didn’t help the quality of the game in the closing stages. The Wizards enjoyed plenty of territory and possession, but couldn’t find a way through the stubborn Newport defence.
In the end, it took a third penalty from Thomas to make things safe and extend his new club’s unbeaten run to three matches to stay within a single point of Cardiff at the top of the table.
Cardiff host Carmarthen Quins this weekend, while Merthyr head to The Wern to face defending champions Merthyr. The Blue & Blacks will welcome the Wizards to the Arms Park on 23 November.
Cardiff stayed on top of the table with their third straight win, but head coach Steve Law knew they could have got so much more form their 17-10 win over Swansea at the Arms Park.
“I’m happy with the result and I thought we worked really hard without the ball. Our defence was excellent and it took Swansea until the last play of the game to score a try,” said Law.
“On another day it could have been a bonus-point win and it was disappointing that we didn’t manage it given how we created so many opportunities. I thought we dominated the game for long periods, but we were up against a tough Swansea side who worked hard and scrambled well.”
James Davies kicked Swansea into an early lead but a superb burst of pace by James Beal gave the Blue and Blacks their first foray into Swansea territory and he found Sam Beard in support, but the Whites were penalised for illegally slowing down play. Gareth Thompson kicked the three pointer.
And the hard work paid off when Joe Scrivens powered past a tackle before the ball was quickly swept out to the other wing for Beard to squeeze over for the opening try. Thompson converted.
A second try followed soon after when Ben Thomas cut through the visitors’ defence and found Joe Gatt, who drew in the last defender to send a scoring pass to Tom Habberfield. Thompson again converted.
It should have been a third try seconds later when Habberfield chased down a chip through but James Davies managed to get back to ground the ball dead over his own try line.
The Whites grabbed an unlikely bonus point in the dying seconds when Phil Jones picked up a loose ball to score under the posts. Phil Jones also converted to clinch the point.
Ebbw Vale hit back from a slow start to win at a canter and pick up a bonus-point in the last play of the game in their 37-21 home triumph over Llandovery.
That looked a long way off when the Drovers opened up the home defence with a training ground move in only the fifth minute to score a try that gave them the lead. After that, though, they struggled to cope with the ferocity of the Steelmen’s tackling
“We used the three weeks off to our benefit. We worked hard on our defence and playing against one of the best teams in the league I felt we stopped them from playing,” admitted Ebbw Vale head coach Greg Woods.
“Our confidence built from our defence and we scored some good tries from the pressure we created. It’s not often you see a side like Llandovery come away with nothing and we can take a lot of heart from that performance.”
Dan Haymond kicked 17 points to steer the home side to a great victory and teenage wings Dafydd Thomas and Euan Rosser were both among the try scorers.
“We have had to re-set the things at the club this season and it is a brand new team that is forming. We know we are going to have some dark days, but this was a big day for us and we will take a lot of confidence from it,” added Woods.
The Drovers got off to a flying start when Jack Maynard brought wing Harri Doel into play with an inside pass from a line-out on half-way. Doel sliced clean through before sending Rhodri Jones on a clear run to the line from 25 metres out for a try that Maynard converted.
The home side had been slow out of the blocks, but their new outside half, Ethan Phillips, showed his pace after 25 minutes when he intercepted on half-way and ran in a try that Haymond converted.
Scrum half Sam Ireland the picked out wing Dafydd Thomas with a superb cut out pass that allowed him to cross from five metres out. Haymond added the touchline conversion to make it 14-7 at the break.
Llandovery got back on level terms four minutes after the re-start when flanker Stuart Worrall was driven over from a line-out and Maynard converted. The visitors lost Joe Powell for 10 minutes for a ruck offence and Haymond made him pay by knocking over two penalties to regain the lead.
Llandovery hit back with Jones’ second try and Maynard’s conversion edged them one point ahead, but that was as good as it got for them. Euan Rosser and Paul King came up with tries that Haymond again improved and he also added another penalty.
Pontypridd find themselves one off the bottom of the table following their 26-8 defeat against RGC 1404 in Colwyn Bay as the Gogs picked up another notable scalp on their home patch.
The visitors went the same way as reigning champions Merthyr on the opening day of the season, although this time the home side picked up a bonus-point as well to leave new head coach Matt Silva full of praise for his new side.
“When I arrived at the club in the summer I was keen to make sure I didn’t change things took much. They’ve had some superb coaches up here before me, built a great culture and I didn’t want to try to fix anything that wasn’t broken,” admitted Silva.
“They play a good brand of rugby and the opening day win over Merthyr proved to me there is a lot of talent in the squad. Now we just have to build on our good start and try to take their natural game to the next level.”
Pontypridd got off to a flying start as they rolled new tight head prop Ross Davies over from a line-out to take the lead after only four minutes. Ben Jones couldn’t add the extras and the visitors suffered from not turning their pressure into more points.
RGC hit back with their own version of the driving maul to work prop Jordan Scott over for an equalising try which Billy McBryde converted. The RGC outside half was in on the scoring action once again when skipper Tom Hughes made a break from a scrum on half-way.
Hughes fed McBryde, who was able to scamper to the posts and once again add the extras. That put the Gogs in the driving seat and even though Jones clawed back three points with a penalty, the home side led 14-8 at the break.
The first score in the second half was always going to be important and some great handling from the home side allowed wing Afon Bagshaw to showcase his tremendous finishing skills with an acrobatic dive into the corner for the RGC’s third try of the game to stretch their lead.
The bonus-point came five minutes later when hooker George Roberts went over after an amazing solo run that left a trail of Ponty defenders with red faces and McBryde made it an 18 point gap with another conversion.
Ponty piled on the pressure in the closing stages and forced the home side to concede a string of penalties to keep their line intact. Dale Stuckey was called back for a toe in touch after it looked as though he had scored and RGC ended with 14 men when replacement prop Rhys Roberts saw yellow for collapsing a scrum.
Bridgend team manager Meredith Griffith believes Steve Jones is laying the foundations for a bright future at the Brewery Field after the home side sent champions Merthyr crashing to a second defeat in three matches with a first-half blitz.
Tries from Tyler Williams and Ben Mayers-Davies and a crucial seven points from the boot of Owen Howe gave Merthyr a mountain to climb at half-time. The visitors fought back with tries from full-back Matthew Jarvis and wing Ashley Norton, but the comeback fell short and Bridgend ran out 17-12 victors.
“We’ve had a new coaching staff come in over the summer and the boys have all bought in to what we’re trying to do,” said Griffith, following the summer departure of Matt Silva.
“They’re responding well to the coaching, especially the forwards under Alun Wyn Davies, our scrum has improved massively. All the systems are in place now, so it’s up to the players to continue what we’re doing and this win will really lift the boys’ confidence heading into this week’s game at Llandovery.”
Bridgend had waited six weeks to put their new plans into action, and they came out firing against the three-time Premiership champions. The Ravens stole three lineouts, shunted their way to five scrum penalties turnovers set the tone for a faultless first-half performance.
The hosts drew first blood when winger Williams broke clear of the defence and beat the covering defence in a foot race to get over the try line. Howe landed the conversion and added a penalty two minutes later to take the hosts 10 points clear after 14 minutes.
Things got worse for the visitors when flanker Mayers-Davies powered over the line, with Howe on target again to make it 17-0 at the interval. The try scorer and back-row colleague Adam O’Driscoll both were forced off with torn biceps in the second-half and face lengthy spells on the sidelines.
Full-back Jarvis led the comeback when he sliced through the defence and score out wide. Gareth Davies missed the conversion as Rob Sidoli’s side began to turn the tide, but Bridgend’s rock solid defence held firm until Norton finally broke the resistant in the dying embers of the game. Rhys Jones landed the conversion, but it was too little, too late.
The bragging rights belong to Carmarthen Quins as they overcame local rivals Llanelli 28-18 in a hard-fought Scarlets regional derby.
In the end the hosts had too much power with a penalty try plus scores from Torin Myhill and Leon Randall along with 11 points from the boot of Jack Wilson enough to secure the win. Llanelli scored two tries of their own courtesy of Aaron Grabham and Ioan Hughes, with Hughes also scoring eight points from the kicking tee.
Llanelli started strongly with left-wing Grabham showing terrific pace down the touchline for the opening try of the game after some nice handling from his inside backs. But the Quins’ pack began to claw their way back into the game with hooker Myhill powering his way over from short range after a period of sustained pressure by Emyr Phillips’ side.
Home tight-head prop Ben Leung was then sent to the sin bin for a high tackle with Hughes extending Llanelli’s lead with a successful shot at goal. Once the hosts were back to a full complement of players they began to dominate physically and were awarded a penalty try due to their dominance at scrum time.
Jack Wilson extended Carmarthen’s lead with a penalty to give the hosts a 15-11 lead at the interval. The hosts took control of the game in the opening stages of the second-half with dangerous full back Randall hitting an excellent line for their third try with some nice handling from Nick Reynolds and Scott Lloyd which was converted by Wilson. But Llanelli stayed within touching distance with outside-half Hughes on the end of a terrific team try which he converted.
Despite pushing hard for the victory with a period of sustained pressure towards the end the Carmarthen Quins defence held firm to record a notable win over their arch rivals.
