The Wizards grabbed their bonus point try shortly after half time and never looked troubled as they made it four bonus-point wins in a row. For the Quins, and their new head coach Marc Jones, it was a third successive league defeat.
Aberavon built early pressure through the indiscipline of the visitors, who were struggling with the Wizards forward power early on.
“The first half was a great advert for Premiership rugby – it was end-to-end stuff. I could see from the players at half time how physical and fast it was,” said Aberavon head coach, Jason Hyatt.
“I’m very pleased with how we are playing. We’ve looked comfortable with ball in hand, our defence has been strong and we’re delighted with the set piece.
“The strength of the squad is phenomenal and it means we’ve got some brilliant players coming off the bench. It’s a close-knit group and the players are at the heart of driving their own standards.
“We’ve had an excellent start, but we can’t get too complacent. There are a lot of tough teams in this league and it doesn’t get any easier next week when we go to Pontypridd.”
The pressure paid off in the sixth minute, when Rhodri Cole dived over the line. Aled Thomas’ conversion was successful. However, Steffan Marshall reduced the deficit with a penalty for the away side.
It was Bradley Roderick who reignited the Wizards’ attack. Roderick picked up a pass off his shoelaces and put an intelligent grubber behind Carmarthen’s defence to send Frankie Jones unopposed in the corner.
Carmarthen were beginning to frustrate the home side, but the little attacking opportunities the Quins were able to create, were stifled through some exceptional lineout steals from Sam Williams.
It was a crucial period of the game as the Quins continued to attack before the half time whistle, and the pressure paid. A poor mistake from Cole allowed Geraint Llewellyn an easy run in.
Josh Turnbull led an inspirational team talk, as Marshall was adding the extras, as the tide began to turn. But Carmarthen’s coaching staff will have been left disappointed, as Aberavon were allowed to hit straight back just before the half time whistle.
Following a clearing kick Andrew Waite was allowed to steam through, opening gaps around him, which allowed Cole to finish off, making up for his costly error just minutes ago.
It was Aberavon who struck first in the second half, earning themselves a try bonus point. A cracking line breaking run from Jonathan Phillips, set the home side forward and Ashton Evans was able to push over from close range.
The home side continued the pressure soon after, winning several scrum penalties under Carmarthen’s posts. James Newnian was sin-binned, as the penalties continued, before Gabe Lacey dotted down out wide.
The home sides’ scrum was completely dominant, but Carmarthen were able to get the ball out wide and Rhodri Davies broke through. The away side remained patient and Josh Batcup found Kallum Evans on the overlap out wide, to score.
Marshall added the extras to make it 33-17, but Aberavon looked home and dry. The home side continued with attacking intent, but their accuracy in the crucial moments let them down.
The Quins showed signs that Aberavon’s high-octane approach was beginning to have an effect in the final ten minutes. But they held on, and Aron Hemmings scored a deserved consolation try to make it 33-24.
Scorers: Aberavon: Tries: R Cole 2, F Jones, A Evans, G Lacey; Cons: A Thomas 4. Carmarthen Quins: Tries: G Llewellyn, Kallum Evans, A Hemmings; Con: S Marshall 3; Pen: S Marshall
LLANELLI 12 RGC 41
RGC1404 ran in six tries to thrash Llanelli at Parc y Scarlets to claim their first victory of the season.
Llanelli named a strong side which included Wales tight head WillGriff John but they were no match for the Gogs who blew them off the park.
The visitors came out of the blocks firing scoring their first try after a mere minute when Dafydd Williams showed his searing pace to score at the corner.
Llanelli hit straight back with a powerful carry from Eddie James getting them over the gain line before Wales U20 No 8 Ben Williams powered over from short range. Sam Rogers nudged RGC back ahead with a penalty before Sam Williams claimed their second try from a driving lineout.
“We built the score in the first half and took the opportunities when they were on offer. The fact we had the points on the board enabled us to open up in the second half and we were able to express ourselves,” said RGC head coach Ceri Jones.
“We’ve been frustrated with ourselves in the past couple of games, but today we showed what we are about. It’s Cardiff next, and our first home game of the season, so we need to focus on building on what we did in Llanelli”
Llanelli had no answer to the raw physicality of their hosts and failed to find a way to stop their driving maul which gave the Gogs a second try with Pedr Jones the beneficiary to give RGC a 20-5 half-time lead.
Llanelli started the second-half strongly with Williams claiming his brace but it was nothing more than a respite as Sam Earl-Jones’ pass put Efan Jones over for RGC’s bonus point score. Earl-Jones was on fire with his electric footwork and pace enough to earn him a second try.
Dan Owen completed the scoring for the Gogs as he powered over from short range.
Scorers: Llanelli: Tries: B Williams 2; Con: J Phillips. RGC1404: Tries: D Williams, S Williams, P Jones, E Jones, S Earl-Jones, D Owen; Cons: S Rogers 3, D Jones; Pen: S Rogers
SWANSEA 45 PONTYPRIDD 22
An outstanding Swansea side earned a 45-22 victory over Pontypridd in an action-packed thriller at St Helen’s.
The home side grabbed an early try when Gareth J Rees spotted a gap five metres from his own line, before throwing a short pass that Dan Edwards burst onto to score under the posts.
A second Swansea try followed soon after with half backs Edwards and Rees combining well again to send Harri Houston over the whitewash.
Just before half time the visitors reduced the deficit to seven points when Joe Miles got quick ball out of an advancing scrum to send Rory Harries over for a try.
Ten minutes into the second half the visitors’ total dominance up front paid off and there was a sense of inevitability when the pack earned a penalty try at the scrum.
But Pontypridd then gave away possession inside their own 22 and the mistake proved costly when Harri Deaves crashed over for a try. And the flanker secured his side a bonus point when the ball was fed through multiple phases of play before he stretched over to complete his brace of tries.
The All Whites sealed an outstanding victory when Hanno Dirksen burst through the middle and chipped to the corner for Iestyn Hopkins to score and in the dying minutes both sides grabbed a try apiece through Fijian international Niko Matawalu and Hopkins.
Scorers: Swansea: Tries: H Deaves 2, I Hopkins 2, D Edwards, H Houston: Cons: C Evans 6, Pen: C Evans. Pontypridd: Tries: A Ward, R Harries; Pen: N Matawalu
CARDIFF 20 EBBW VALE 19
Wales U20 outside half Ben Burnell kept Cardiff’s unbeaten record in the Indigo Premiership with his last gasp penalty to secure the victory over Ebbw Vale.
The Steelman had led for most of the contest with fly half Evan Lloyd’s boot the difference between the sides before Burnell’s penalty secured the win for the home side at the Arms Park.
Both sides went into this Premiership clash with a 100 percent win record in the league so far this something and something had to give at the Arms Park.
Lloyd finished with 14 points from the boot for Ebbw Vale, with Harrison James, Jamie Hill and Joey Tomlinson crossing for tries for Cardiff. In a tight first half, Lloyd’s boot proved the difference and kept the Steelmen ahead with three penalties. Harrison crossed for the home side’s try with the visitors 9-7 head at half-time.
After the break Cardiff took the lead with a second try this time by scrum half Hill to give his side a three-point lead before Lloyd’s boot leveled the score with his fourth penalty.
Replacement Whiting then crossed for the Steelmen’s first try of the game which was converted by Lloyd before Cardiff hit back with a third try by replacement Tomlinson before Burnell’s penalty snatched victory.
Scorers: Cardiff: Tries: H James, J Hill, J Tomlinson; Con: B Burnell; Pen: B Burnell. Ebbw Vale: Try: D Whiting; Pen: Evan Lloyd (4); Con: E Lloyd
LLANDOVERY 15 NEWPORT 13
The Drovers kept their unbeaten record with this exceptionally hard earned win over a Black and Ambers side that is still looking to break its duck after three Premiership games.
The Welsh Cup holders slugged it out toe to toe with the Carmarthenshire side but the extra bit of composure in a frantic last ten minutes carried Llandovery home.
Both sets of forwards and their replacements put in huge shifts of hard graft with Llandovery’s No 8 Iestyn Rees outstanding whilst behind the scrum it was the buzz and energy of little scrum half Lee Rees that made the difference in a helter-skelter finale.
Llandovery led 8-6 at half time, scoring the one try through hooker Craig Thomas who burrowed through from a driven line out. Full back Jack Maynard kicked a fine 40 metre penalty whilst fly half Kieran Meek put over two for the visitors.
When Newport forced a penalty try at a rolling maul early in the second half, it looked that Llandovery might suffer under the weight of their bigger opponents.
Things turned with the yellow carding of Newport replacement hooker Will Griffiths and the home pack pounded systematically away for the vital score. Replacement prop Llyr Green eventually found a hole in the defence to tie the scores and let Maynard add the crucial conversion.
Scorers: Llandovery: Tries: C Thomas, L Green; Con: J Maynard; Pen: J Maynard. Newport: Try: Pen Try; Pens: K Meek 2
