RGC 54 Aberavon 42
SRC Cup
Saturday 25th January 2025
If St Dwynwen was a lover of attacking rugby and tries, then she would have enjoyed the opening SRC Cup game at Stadiwm CSM.
Strong intent in the opening minutes with Billy McQueeney and Pedr Jones taking the ball in to contact and leaving defenders on the ground. The sight of McQueeney running with ball in hand was a standout of the game time and time again, and one Aberavon will want to forget.
The visitors sparked into action when Full-Back Joe Gage broke the line. On 7 minutes Aberavon took the lead with a penalty from Ed Dunford.
Quick ball and quick hands from Aberavon began to create space wide and when winger Felix Gilbert had space to run he took advantage before Joe Gage crossed for the try. Dunford added the extras
RGC had the chance to get some points on the board, but McBryde pulled the penalty wide of the posts.
The Gogs were having a good spell of possession and recycled the ball to edge up the field before Dan Owen found the gap and went in to score. McBryde with the extra 2 points
If that was the chance to get back in the game, they threw it away from the restart and gifted Aberavon a try. RGC failed to get hold of the ball and it fell into the hands of the Wizards scrum-half for Josh Thomas to score.
Dion Jones made a great run from deep, gliding through the tackles before offloading to Bagshaw to take it on before passing back to Dion Jones who was tackled with the line in sight.
If that was the pace and handling, then the try from RGC came from power. They backed themselves with a penalty to touch and from the lineout fired up the driving maul which resulted in hooker Rhodri King grabbing the score.
The Gogs were punching holes through the defence and Delwyn Jones was next to carry hard through the tackles before his side were again close to the tryline.
RGC attempted to run the ball from deep when Sam Stoddard went for a back of the hand pass which was just forwarded as it landed in Bagshaw hands. That resulted in the first scrum on 30 minutes.
From that scrum the Wizards got the ball and shifted wide and went over in the corner. The boot of Dunford added the extras.
It was a 10 point lead, and that lead was due to RGC errors being punished with the Gogs not for the 1st time this season having to work hard to get back into the game.
RGC again went close after Delwyn Jones ran hard, before Rhys Tudor was stopped yards from the line. Chances were being created, but they weren’t being taken at that time.
Aberavon were taking the opportunities and Dunford extended his sides lead with a penalty on the 38th minute and a 13 point lead at half-time
RGC needed a strong start to the 2nd half and they got it with a big driving maul and again Rhodri King claimed the try. McBryde’s conversion sailed over.
A couple of minutes later the Gogs were in again, when Rhys Tudor chased and collected the ball before popping it up for Dan Owen who ran in for his 2nd try of the game. McBryde’s conversion gave his side the lead for the 1st time in the game.
They weren’t ahead for long as the boot of Dunford was again on target with the penalty.
The points kept on coming and defences were being opened up and again RGC attacked with pace and Dan Roderick finished it with the try. McBryde hit the conversion and again they were in the lead.
With RGC on the attack again, McBryde opted for a short kick between the defenders, but it was collected by Aberavon who raced down the pitch causing some panic and a chasing defence. It gave the visitors a chance to get a platform and go again in attack.
Aberavon got to the line, and when it looked like the ball was knocked forward in the tackle it dropped into the arms of a Wizard player to score, and Dunford hit the conversion.
RGC looked to get back on the front foot, but couldn’t find that space in the visitors defence at crucial moments. Aberavon were able to stifle the attacks and keep the Gogs away from any scoring opportunity. They had possession but couldn’t make anything from it, and again Aberavon were let in when they broke down the wing and Ashton Evans scored with Dunford converting.
The one thing this season with RGC is the fact they can score tries from anywhere, and that keeps them in games no matter the score on the board.
Caio Parry came of the bench and his pace was causing problems from the get go. He put in an impressive kick and chase putting Aberavon on the backfoot.
Both sides in open play looked dangerous when receiving the kick with some space to run into, with the pace of the game not slowing with 70 minutes on the clock.Connor Dever was next to get the fans on their feet with a run down the middle of the pitch before the scrum-half’s kick ahead was gathered by Aberavon.
Tries and running rugby have been the trademark this season, and when Jessie Williams got hold of the ball he found some space and sprinted through for the score and once again the Gogs were in the lead. That lead was extended with a McBryde conversion.
It was never a comfortable lead, and Aberavon looked for that final chance as the clock ticked down to 80 minutes and again got back into the RGC half. The Gogs Full-back Dion Jones had other thoughts, and he got his hands on the ball raced down the field outsprinting the chasers to dive over the line. McBryde’s conversion ended the game with the cup campaign starting with a breathtaking win.
Director of Rugby Josh Leach was pleased with his sides resilience to come back and claim the 5-point victory “The boys can be proud of the way they finished the game in that last 20 minutes. I thought the subs that came on made a big impact. For the 1st time this season, I thought we came out after half-time and were strong, scoring 2 tries in that 6 minute period.
We created opportunities, took them and scored some good tries but again we conceded some soft tries. Their tries seemed to come from nothing, and as a group we have talked about upping our defensive game over the next 4 weeks.
Cup runs are built on momentum and winning home games, so its good to get the win to start us off. Next week Cardiff will be offering that attacking threat, especially at their place so it will be a test on our defence which we will be working on to improve again this week”
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