Reigning champions Llandovery are finally off the mark at the third time of asking in Super Rygbi Cymru after they held on with 13 men to beat Bridgend 29-26 at the Brewery Field.
The Ravens twice took the lead in the first half, through tries from former Wales U20 forwards Benji Williams and Nathan Evans, both of which were converted by Fraser Jones.
But two tries for Drovers’ wing Kian Abraham and one for loosehead Dino Dallavalle, plus two conversions from Ioan Hughes, saw the Drovers edge ahead 19-14 at the break. Captain Joe Powell then scored a bonus-point winning fourth try for the visitors after the break, with Hughes’ conversion followed by a penalty goal extending their lead to 29-14.
Bridgend were awarded a penalty try on 71 minutes and saw Llandovery full-back Isaac Murray-Macgregor receive a yellow card for an illegal tackle on Cameron Ellis. Three minutes later, Abraham followed him to the sin bin for a deliberate knock on.
But despite the hosts then scoring again through Edd Howley in a tense finale, the visitors held out to secure their first win of the season.
“I’m delighted to get the first win on the board, and we played some excellent rugby for 70 minutes. At that stage, a six-point win looked to be on the cards,” said Drovers’ head coach Euros Evans.
“Then we imploded a bit and had to dig deep to get the result. The Brewery Field is always a tough place to go, so we’ve got to be happy with the five points.”
Ebbw Vale made it three from three but needed a late try from wing Dafydd Thomas to snatch a 33-31 win over RGC. The Steelmen had been 28-3 ahead at one stage, but the north Walians rallied to lead 31-28, before having to settle for two bonus points.
Skipper Ethan Phillips, prop Luke Garrett – on his 150th appearance – No 8 Ryan Jenkins and full back Morgan Rees were the other Ebbw scorers. Harri Ford kicked four conversions.
Two second half tries from No 8 Sam Williams sparked RGC, who also had lock Huw Davies and scrum half Tudur Jones on the scoresheet. Billy McBryde added 11 points from the tee.
Cardiff maintained their own 100 per cent winning start with an emphatic 43-5 win over Pontypool at the Arms Park to secure all six points. All of the points in the match were scored in the first half with the Blue & Blacks scoring seven times.
Loose head prop Ioan Emanuel grabbed two of them, with wing Joe Goodchild, hooker Tom Howe, tight head prop Tom Harper, back rower Gethyn Cannon and outside half Ben Coomer also going over. Coomer added the extras, while No 8 Ben Williams grabbed a consolation try for Pooler.
A second half hat-trick off the bench from young Scarlets scrum half Alfie Luger inspired Carmarthen Quins to a 43-35 victory from behind at home against Swansea.
Both sides were looking to secure their first win of the season after defeats in their first two games, and Swansea were 20-12 to the good at half time courtesy of tries from full-back Lewis Edwards, wing Iwan Glynn and player head coach Joe Thomas. Luke Price added five points from the tee.
No 8 Lewys Millin and wing Eilir George scored first half tries for Quins, with Ifan Davies converting one. Centre Jack Hoskins’ unconverted try after the break secured Swansea a bonus point and extended their lead to 25-12.
But the introduction of Wales U18 star Luger changed the game in Quins’ favour. The 18-year-old looked a class act, helping himself to three tries while centre Gabe McDonald and lock Lee Taylor – on his 250th Quins appearance – also went over, while McDonald converted three of them.
Thomas and Edwards both grabbed their second tries for the Whites but it’s now three defeats from three for Swansea.
“We were slow out of the blocks into a strong wind, lethargic and lacking energy. However, we did just enough to be in touch at half time,” reflected Quins director of rugby Steff Thomas.
“The energy that we demanded started to come, but there was real impact from the bench. Alfie Luger and Joe Denman were the first to bring that – and the rest of the bench followed suit.
“For an 18-year-old to change a game like Alfie did was some performance. We will take plenty from that game but know how much better we can be.”