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Composure Key to Victory

Composure Key to Victory 21 Jan 2023

RGC 25 Llanelli 12

Saturday 21st January 2023

Head Coach Ceri Jones gave credit to his team's composure “First off it was a good win, with 14 men for 60 minutes.  Llanelli have put in a few good performances in recent weeks so to get the win is a massive positive. I thought their 2 centres caused us problems at times.  The red card was unfortunate, and we will need to look back at it.

I thought we showed some composure, our kicking game was good and made sure we moved the ball upfield especially in that 2nd half, forcing Llanelli into errors under pressure,

Joey Simpson put in a great shift after only playing limited minutes and shored up the scrum.  We got that huge penalty try, and the set piece looked strong.  We needed to pack to perform and it did when we went a man down.

It was a mature performance and proved an important 4 points all things considered and we move onto next week against Cardiff.  It will be a chance to really test ourselves in the Arms Park.”

 

 

RGC opened the scoring after Dan Owen charged down a Josh Phillips kick and managed to touch down.  Sam Rogers nudged the conversion over and that was the highlight of the opening 20 minutes which didn’t quit spark.

That all changed when the visitors answered back with a try and Josh Phillips conversion to level the score up,

Dan Owen and Rhys Tudor split the defence open and were rewarded with a penalty, Sam Rogers gave his side the lead again.

Jordan Scott shown the red card midway through the 1st half for throwing a punch, and at that point, it looked like being a long afternoon for the North Walians.

Llanelli took full advantage when the ball went wide to scrum-half Luke Davies who crossed the whitewash, and Phillips hit the conversion.

With the man extra, the visitors looked to play some quick ball and find the space and expose the gaps around the field.

Credit to the Gogs who took hold of the ball and tried to make things happen. RGC finished the half on the attack, with Llanelli conceding a number of penalties before the Gogs were held up on the line

They would have taken confidence from that spell heading into the changing room, knowing they could still create opportunities.

The 2nd half started with RGC attacking with real intent, especially down the right side of the field.

Scrum half Ollie Wynn was sharp around the breakdown, as RGC looked to get the ball into the Llanelli half. The Gogs were keeping hold of the ball and build some good phases in good positions.

The set piece was working well, and from the line-out, they ball worked back to Rhodri King who crossed over for the try.

With that man advantage, Llanelli always looked dangerous and broke up the field quickly, so RGC needed to make sure the errors were at a minimum when they had the ball.

Harri Evans and Afon Bagshaw both made important tackles, which got well-deserved cheers from the crowd and made sure the visitors attacks were stopped at crucial times.

Ollie Wynn kicked ahead and Rhys Tudor chased down and was unlucky not to get the try.

Player wise it was level when Iwan Shenton was yellow carded for the visitors. 

Dion Jones nailed the penalty when he came on as replacement and gave his side a 6 point lead.

RGC defence was working well, and the scrum was solid at key times.  The experience of both Efan and Dion Jones off the bench enabled RGC to control the game.

Composure for RGC was clear as they worked the ball back into the Llanelli half, and made sure they were kept in their own 22m line.

The Gogs had the upper hand upfront and when they had the penalty which was kickable, they backed themselves and kicked to touch for the attacking lineout.

With the clock ticking down the scrum put in another big push and clearly they backed themselves as the penalty try was coming, and it did.

It was a massive effort, and when the set piece and cool heads were needed the players delivered.  Defensively with the man advantage, Llanelli didn’t get any points on the board 2nd half, which is credit to the discipline and fitness of the Gogs and much to the delight of the home crowd.