RGC 28 Llandovery 61
Saturday 15th February 2025
SRC Cup
It was an afternoon to forget as Llandovery ran in 9 tries, capitalising on an error-filled performance from RGC in which they cruised to an emphatic win.
Heading into the game, RGC were 2 from 2 in the cup, knowing a win would set them up for the top spot and a cup final in their hands and at the end of the game it was Llandovery in the strong seat of the group.
It started in the opening minute when the Drovers were gifted the lead after a Danny Cross kick was charged down by Ed Scragg who collected the ball to touchdown. Conversion by Ioan Hughes
The Gogs had a chance to get some points on the board but a McBryde penalty just pushed wide of the upright.
A break in play for an injury to Ilan Evans took the sting out the game, before the boot of McBryde started to get the ball behind the Drovers defence.
Sam Stoddard was getting hands on the ball and causing a threat down the wing as RGC looked to stretch the visitors down the flanks. Those glimpses of attacks were soon wiped out, with 3 Llandovery tries with the conversions from Hughes. 2 of those tries arrived when the Gogs were a man down, when McBryde was shown a yellow card. Even with 15 men on the field, Drovers had the space to run through RGC, so with a man advantage it became even easier
28 – nil down, and even the most optimistic of RGC supporters would have found it difficult to think the game was still on for the Gogs. Those tries came fairly easily for the visitors, who at times seemed to brush through the floundering defence with ease.
Finally when RGC got to the line, with bodies on the whitewash scum-half Connor Dever found a gap to get the ball down and McBryde added the conversion.
If that was a chance to gain back some momentum in the match, it was thrown away when from the restart RGC gave away a penalty and again Llandovery kicked to touch. It wasn’t a surprise when they claimed a 3rd driving maul from a Taylor Davies try.
Even when RGC attacked the Drovers with a kick chase on their own line they ripped through Gogs defence, with 5 passes and scored quicker than you read this sentence, with Llien Morgan finishing the coast-to-coast attack and Ioan Hughes hitting the conversion.
RGC needed to come out and get an early score after the break, and made some inroads in the opening minutes but a McBryde pass was intercepted and scrum-half McDonald raced down the pitch to extend the Drovers lead, along with Hughes conversion. Matters were made worse a minute later as they ran the pitch and one pass opened up the defence and Adam Warren racing in the corner, with the Hughes conversion and it was a 54 point score.
RGC gave the crowd something to cheer when Sam Williams made a charge before setting up Caio Parry who stepped inside and scored. Dion Jones hit the extras.
Delwyn Jones made some good yards with the ball in hand, with Sam Williams and Patrick Nelson adding in support as they attacked the Drovers line but the passes at key moments were going to hands.
With 15 minutes left on the clock, the homeside were down to 14 when Billy McQueeney was shown a red card.
It was another score for the Gogs when Sam Stoddard found some space and ran in for the try, and Dion Jones split the posts.
They were looking for the bonus point try, but again from the restart they gifted a score when Dion Jones threw a pass that was intercepted, and the visitors went in for another simple try. Sam Potter booted the conversion over.
In game of very little of positives, RGC did claim a BP try when Danny Cross kicked to the wing with Sam Stoddard getting a boot on it, kicking ahead and then able to dab down in the corner. Dion Jones was on target with the extras.
Director of Rugby Josh Leach “To put it plainly that was embarrassing. We can’t just turn up and expect to be in the game. We were flat, we were hesitant, and Llandovery punished us for it. They took their chances well and the game was over after 20 minutes.
Over the season you can see how performances have improved, but if you look back we struggle to produce big performances in big games, games that come with a bit of perceived pressure. We’ll obviously have to look at that and learn to deal with these situations as we head towards the play offs.”
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