Newbridge v Rumney 01.10.2011

SWALEC League Division 1 East

NEWBRIDGE v RUMNEY

The Welfare Ground, Newbridge
Saturday 1st October 2011, k.o. 2.30 pm

 
Newbridge v Rumney 25.09.2010
Past playing record : played 22, Newbridge 14 wins, Rumney 7 wins, 1 draw

Rumney : 15.Dan Millward  14.Gareth Stoppani  13.Paul Niblett  12.Luke Fear  11.Joe Offside  10.Danny Clark (Capt)  9.Chris Milton  8.Michael Kelly  7.Simon Barry  6.Matthew Way  5.Paul Bull  4.Joe Mills  3.James Monck  2.Nathan Bridson  1.John Leadbeatter
Replacements : 16.Anthony Wilson  17.Darren Fenton  18.Lewis Andrews  19.Michael Young  20.Colin O'Donoghue

Newbridge : 15.Duane Dyer  14.David James  13.Mark Thorley  12.Geraint Langdon  11.Trevor James  10.Bevan Howells  9.Richard Addis  8.Ross Coombs (Capt)  7.Justin Jones  6.Dean Gibbs  5.Keith Laughlin  4.Mark Curtis  3.Dan Evans  2.Rhys Price  1.Geoff Lewin
Replacements : 16.Darren Hughes  17.Mike Hutchings  18.Geraint Thomas  19.Aaron Quick  20.Dan Phillips

Referee : Mike Bethel

Newbridge 57   Rumney 13

Scorer for Rumney : Danny Clark try and conversion and 2 penalties

Scorers for Newbridge  : Duane Dyer try, David James 3 tries, Geraint Langdon try, Bevan Howells try and 7 conversions and penalty, Rhys Price try, Dean Gibbs try

Temperatures were well into the eighties at The Welfare Ground and in weather unknown in Wales in October, Rumney's defence wilted as league leaders Newbridge ran in eight tries. The visitors uncharacteristically lost their first lineout and Newbridge immediately opened up play from their ten metre line, full back Duane Dyer entering the back line to create an overlap, right wing Trevor James bursting down the tramlines, feeding fellow winger David James who raced in for the opening try. Outside half Bevan Howells added the conversion for a 7-0 lead but with the Rumney forwards showing up well in the scrummage and the loose, prop John Leadbeatter and second row Joe Mills battering their way forward, Newbridge conceded a penalty and outside half Danny Clark narrowed the gap to 7-3. Rumney continued to experience problems in the lineout but were dominant in the scrums, Newbridge favouring the lineout and any opportunity to use their dangerous backs, and when visiting flanker Matthew Way grabbed turnover ball, hooker Nathan Bridson, Mills and No8 Michael Kelly set off on a powerful offensive, but an unexpected penalty at a scrummage allowed Newbridge to peg the visitors right back in their twenty two, a position they found it hard to get out of. Scrum half Chris Milton's darting run took play to their twenty two but Rumney were slow to secure the ball and Newbridge took advantage of the turnover, scrum half Richard Addis spotting a huge empty space and chipping over for the speedy Dyer to race through and touchdown to score.  Howell's successful conversion gave his side a 14-3 lead after sixteen minutes, and more uncertain play by the visitors allowed Newbridge to quickly regain attacking positions where their increasingly menacing backs were only kept out by desperate defensive measures, and in the twenty first minute they took another three points for a penalty infringement. Rumney second rows Michael Young and Mills kept up their heavy workrate, prop James Monck and flanker Simon Barry forcing the opposition back, but their efforts were often cancelled out by Newbridge being awarded penalties, until a darting run by Clark inspired their first decisive attacking period of the game, the home side defending strongly, using the handling skills of their threequarters and Dyer to break out of dangerous situations. Rumney brought on Paul Bull in the second row, Mills and Kelly gained more yards and Way constantly harassed and tackled, and in the thirty first minute Clark kicked a second penalty. The fast, mobile Rumney forwards were proving to be their side's most effective weapon, particularly when driving in small groups and setting up phases, but Newbridge were always prepared to run the ball back, centres Langdon and Mark Thorley finding more room in midfield and Trevor James only being denied by an excellent tackle from Milton. The home side started to stretch the visitors' defences, second row Keith Laughlin and No8 and Captain Ross Coombs linking well with their threequarters, until the backs spotted mismatches and Howells cut through for a try, which he also converted to increase the lead to 24-6. With only five minutes remaining until half time, Newbridge spun the ball as soon as they regained possession, Langdon sprinting through the midfield and scattering tacklers before linking with his support players, hooker Rhys Price finally picking up the loose ball and crossing for another try and conversion. From the restart Langdon and Thorley immediately recreated the havoc in midfield, bursting through more weak tackles and sending David James away for a corner try, the scoreboard at the interval reading Newbridge 36 Rumney 6, the visitors having shipped nineteen points in the closing six minutes.

The second half found Monck, Leadbeatter and the Rumney pack even more dominant in the scrummages, their pressure gaining penalties which were used to peg the home side back, but the lineouts still caused problems and Newbridge carefully worked their way into the visitors twenty two. In the fifty second minute Newbridge used clean lineout ball to start another good handling movement, flanker Justin Jones working a well planned miss move for Langdon to slice through further poor tackles and score under the posts. Howells' conversion extended the lead to 43-6 but Rumney fought back, winger Gareth Stoppani, centres Luke Fear and Paul Niblett trying hard to counterattack, fullback Dan Millward and winger Joe Offside looking for work, making the most of the limited possession which came their way, and hooker Colin O'Donoghue never giving an inch. In the fifty seventh minute, with Newbridge setting up another expansive movement, Clark cleverly anticipated a pass by  Coombs and intercepted the ball, dashing away for a forty metre try and conversion which cut the gap to 43-13. Rumney brought on Darren Fenton at tight head, Lewis Andrews at scrum half and with Anthony Wilson in the back row, another strong passage of play followed, powerful scrums providing Kelly and Way with chances to attack in the loose, and Stoppani, Andrews and Millward all coming close to scoring. Newbridge however, carefully waited until they regained possession and moved upfield, then Howells brushed off three tackles on half way and sparked the interplay which resulted in David James haring forty metres to complete his hat trick of tries. Now trailing 50-13, and with only ten minutes remaining, Rumney continued to launch attacks but errors caused them to break down and in the seventy fourth minute another fine, looping movement by Newbridge, involving fullback Dyer, was rounded off by flanker Dean Gibbs sidestepping past tacklers on a forty metre gallop to the tryline. Howells' conversion stretched the gap to 57-13, and although Rumney battled hard, Fenton and Wilson making huge efforts, errors still crept in and, unable to reduce the deficit, they had to settle for an unexpectedly heavy defeat.

Matt Silva, Coach Rumney 1st XV : "For the first time this season I am at a loss to describe the game. We were totally outplayed, outthought and outnumbered in the contact area. I don't think it would be fair to say that Newbridge weren't worthy of this big victory but I feel our poor performance contributed to the high score they attained. We missed numerous tackles on first phase ball which led directly to tries. This is rare in modern rugby and we have to put our hands up and say we made it easy for Newbridge. On a positive note, once again our scrum was dominant and we managed to hold the territorial and possession percentages in the second half, and yet we failed to score straightforward run ins. In the post match debrief the players were very disappointed and we are working hard in training this week to prepare for a tough match against Blackwood on Saturday. Two stand out players this week are Danny Clark and Simon Barry, with a lot of the other boys falling short of the levels they expect of themselves. The fortunate part of rugby is that you get a chance the following week to put things right and we must now do this against Blackwood on Saturday."

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