The South scored the only try of the game courtesy of winger Josh Rodgers with the boot of Luke Fish doing the rest of the damage in their 11-3 win.
The fly-half added two penalties and a 62nd minute drop goal while the North could only manage a penalty from Callum Hall in response.
Both sides had enjoyed a brilliant start to their respective regional age grade campaigns with the North unbeaten while the South’s only defeat had come at the hands of the Ospreys. As a result, the two teams went into the game full of confidence.
“It’s going to be a right royal battle between the best 30 players in the region,” said Blues Performance Director Richard Hodges before the match and the contest certainly lived up to his billing.
It was a hugely competitive start to the game and when Rodgers gave the South the lead with his sixth minute try, the game looked like it might be a classic.
Fish extended the South lead with penalties in the 19th and 28th minute as his side went 11-0 up. Hall got the North on the scoreboard with a penalty but there were only three points scored between then and the final whistle.
In an extremely competitive second half, Fish’s drop goal just after the hour mark was the only score as his side held out for a 14-3 win.
“It was a deserved win for the south and a little against the run of form given that the North were previously unbeaten,” said Hodges.
“They dominated from start to finish and answered a couple of questions we might have had about them following their defeat to the Ospreys, they were excellent from beginning to end.”
Hodges picked out the South’s prop Joel Ringer and No. 8 Joe Gaughan as two of the standout performers though he believes the North will be looking for revenge when the two sides meet again in January.
And he knows that regardless of the result, the strength of junior rugby in the two sides can only be of immense benefit to the region.
“We’ve chosen 18 players from the two squads who we think will go forward to the next level and they came down to the National Centre of Excellence for an assessment,” Hodges added.
“It shows the strength in depth of our region. Our U17 put 50 points on the Dragons and they’re obviously still eligible for the U18 going forward so we’re really in a position of strength.”
