Llandovery 29 Swansea 12
The SRC Cup holders started off the defence of their title with a double bonus point win over the All Whites in Pool B of the competition writes Huw S Thomas.
The smallest crowd of the season suggested a serious lack of interest in a competition that pits all too familiar opponents against each other in a colourless rematch of fixtures with no excitement of a shock that is at the heart and essence of a knock out Cup.
Why the WRU does not put all the Premiership clubs – Merthyr, Neath, Pontypridd et alia – into the hat and pull out some intriguing clashes to get the pulse racing is exasperating.
Why not go further and put 32 teams into the hat, 10 from the SRC, the 13 Premiership clubs and the best nine from the Championship East and West, give the “minnows” the home draw in the 1st round and await a shock result?
There are teams in the Premiership that would seriously threaten to turn over one of the SRC clubs in the round of 32 and last 16.
Take your pick – a Merthyr v Ebbw Vale, Neath v Aberavon, Narberth v Carmarthen Quins, even a Brecon v Llandovery tie would certainly attract a crowd, treble or four times bigger than the one we saw at Church Bank on Saturday.
Playing their first game since losing to Ebbw Vale back on January 3, the Drovers had to work hard to overcome a Swansea side that produced flashes of quality rugby.
The visitors also scored the tries of the day through wing Brendan Wood and had the most exciting runner on the field in full back Harri Houston but failed to take their chances at key moments.
Llandovery, on the other hand, made the most of their opportunities – spearheaded by scrum half George Mac Donald – who grabbed a brace of tries in the first quarter before injury forced him off.
The home starting line up was unrecognisable from the one that had faced Ebbw – 12 changes in all – but the incomers were good enough to pull Llandovery through.
Macdonald – groomed to take over from Lee Rees who will finish his 17 year involvement with the club at the end of the season- put the Drovers ahead after just one minute.
A long run put his side close to the line and when No 8 Evan Sheldon picked up from a scrum, the scrum half was under the posts in a flash.
He then scored a brilliant solo try, hacking a loose ball on near his own 22, gathering and outstripping the cover to dive in at the corner.
Full back Houston caused the Llandovery defence all sorts of problems with his elusive counter-attacking, before replacement wing Wood finished off a very slick midfield move early in the second half to bring Swansea back to 12-7.
Home fly half Ioan Hughes kicked a close range penalty before Drovers prop Tom Phillips charged 25 metres to just short of the Swansea line.
Soon after Swansea skipper and fly half Josh Phillips was yellow carded for a blatant offside, a long Hughes pass put wing Ned Bennett striding over.
Hughes’s fine touchline conversion pulled his side clear 22-7 but when both sides copped yellow cards from referee Amber Stamp – Llandovery replacement Kai Jones and Swansea wing Logan Lloyd for off the ball fighting – it was the All Whites who responded the better.
A huge pass from replacement scrum half Matthew Aubrey got his backs racing away and quick hands and accurate passing sent Wood arrowing in.
Just as it looked that Swansea might get closer, the home pack under outstanding lock Joe Powell turned the screw.
A close range line out and thundering charges into the belly of the defence opened up a gap for full back Kian Abraham to dive in under the posts.
Four tries and a winning margin of 17 points secured two bonus points for the defending champions who play their second tie in Pool B on Saturday.
They travel to Aberavon who lost their Cup tie to Bridgend 15-14.
Llandovery
Tries: G MacDonald (2), N Bennett, K Abraham
Cons: I Hughes (3)
Pen:I Hughes
Swansea
Tries: B Wood (2)
Con: J Phillips
Llandovery
K Abraham; N Bennett, C Baldwin, R Jones, L Morgan; I Hughes, G MacDonald; T Phillips, F Thomas, H O’Connor, J Powell (capt) , H Holden, G Evans, E Sheldon, T Sparrow
Replacements: J Hughes, C Lewis, B Watkins, J Evans, K Jones, O Davies, H Doel, L Rees
Swansea: H Houston; Liam Lloyd, J Thomas, L Davies, I Cornelius; J Phillips (capt), E Lewis; J Crockett, Logan Lloyd, E Thompson, C Thompson, B Roberts, I Shenton, L Giannini, O Jones
Replacements: J Cox, D Davies, N Hills, C Arnold, J Hopkins, M Aubrey, C Carson, B Wood
Feature image: Drovers scrum half George Macdonald slips through for his first minute try against Swansea. Photo by Stuart Ladd
