Flashback.....
RGC played Swansea back in January 26th 2013....it was a cup game...anyone remember it?
Swansea 29 - RGC 12
RGC were given a tough test in their first ever game in the Swalec Cup against Swansea at St Helens but came away with a huge amount of credit against Premiership opponents. Head Coach Chris Horsman was “pleased with the performance but not with the scoreline” when he gave his thoughts after the match.
“We were disappointed with the try from them just at half time. We are targeted to be in the Premiership in 3 to 5 years and after 6 months we didn’t look out of place at this level. The last team from North Wales that played here lost by 100 points so we did North Wales proud today. The front Row that finished the game were aged 18 and the blindside flanker is still at school but they matched Swansea upfront. To outscore Swansea in the second half was also pleasing and I think we started to play our brand of rugby as the game progressed. We always said that today was a lovely distraction but now we regroup and focus on our remaining league games for the rest of the season”
The home side were attacked from the kick off with fullback Nicky Thomas and winger Nathan Brooks showing impressive skills with ball in hand and the pressure was building on the RGC line for 5 minutes before Gray powered past 2 RGC players for the try.
The 2nd try came soon after with some great hands by the impressive Thomas to collect a loose pass and offload to winger Brooks to score in the corner for a 10-nil lead.
RGC were trying to move the ball through hands with Captain Kelvin Davies involved in a few phases before Llywarch Ap Myrddin was tackled. Most of the Swansea attacks came from Thomas and Brooks and the pace of the duo were asking all the questions of the RGC defence. The Gog’s were making the tackles and closing the gaps as the attacks continued.
The 3rd try for Swansea came on the 20th minute with Jenkins scoring and a conversion made it 17 nil as the wind began to have an advantage for the home side. Richard Hopkins made a couple of important tackles to stop Swansea breaks down the wing as the game began to open up for the home side. Try number 4 and came just before half time when Swansea worked the ball from one touch line to the other before winger Nick Harwood ran over in the corner and with the conversion it was 22-nil, and in all honesty it was probably the all-important score to give Swansea the confidence going in at the break.
The All White attack kept on coming in the 2nd half but the RGC defence were putting the tackles in and stopping the gain line from being broken on more than a few occasions. Andy Baston was impressive in his defensive work and made the tackle of the game when he pulled Thomas into touch as the Swansea full back put on the burners towards the try line.
As the half developed the Gog’s began to play their brand of rugby that has been impressive in Division 1 East, with some quick off loads and direct running and the try from RGC came after a well worked move and Carwyn Ap Myrddin scoring. Conversion from McGahan. The RGC backline began to find some space and time to test the Swansea line and the confidence of the young players grew as the game went on. Swansea did get some points with a penalty try and conversion after a big drive towards the line but it was RGC that got the last score with a Rhodri Evans after the young pack powered towards the line.
It was always going to be a big test for RGC and perhaps in the opening 15 minutes the players found Swansea a step up in level with the pace and power from the Premiership team. That said they grew in confidence and outscored them in the 2nd half. RGC have made great strides in the past 6 months and It was interesting to note that 6 of the 8 players in the RGC pack were aged 18 or under so this was a huge experience for them and matched Swansea in many parts of the pitch.
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