Navy all at sea as RGC bring curtain down on season with emphatic victory - match report by Ian Harrison, Team Manager
This was RGC1404's first home game for some time, providing the opportunity for the North Wales’ rugby supporters to see first hand the rugby that has won many friends in South Wales this season. A hard game was expected with the Navy’s players vying for places for the game against the Army at Twickenham in ten days time.
The game started in bright sunshine and in a bright fashion for the Gogs with a try within the first five minutes. Sean white crossing for an unconverted try after some good forwards pressure. The Navy were being pinned back in their own half but managed to reduce the deficit to 5-3 with a penalty after ten minutes. Within a minute RGC extended their lead after charging down a Navy kick, winning the resulting line out and Dylan Gwyn Owen going over for a try which was again unconverted,10-3.
The RGC scrum was putting the Navy scrum under all sorts of pressure and pushed them back onto their line on nineteen minutes. They looked as though they were going to score but the referee blew for a penalty to the Gogs. The ensuing scrum followed the same pattern but this time the referee lost patience with the Navy scrum and awarded a penalty try which Rhodri Carlton Jones converted, 17-3.
On twenty three minutes came a try straight form the training ground. The Navy won a lineout close to their own try line and formed up for a rolling maul. The Gogs’ forwards stood off, nullifying the maul and allowing Mike Hall to come around the back of the Navy’s forwards, rob the ball and go over for an unconverted try in the corner, 22-3. Three minutes later and the crowd were treated to another spectacular try as number eight Jeremy Kyne made a break through the navy line and made a pass to winger Ben Stelmaszek that missed out two players in the line and allowed the right winger to go over to make the score 29-3 after Rhodri Carlton Jones converted.
The Navy were now visibly struggling to find a way through the Gogs’ defence and to contain their marauding forwards, their frustration ending with a yellow card for their number eight. During this ten minute period flanker Jebb Sinclair scored two tries the second of which coming from a sweet passing movement and forwards interplay. Rhodri Carlton Jones converted both tries to make the score 43-3 at half-time.
Another mammoth score for RGC seemed on the cards as they went in at half time with the Navy putting in a lot of effort but being restricted to one or two individual line breaks that came to nothing. As the second half kicked off however the roles seemed to have been reversed. The Navy started to apply their own pressure and the Gogs’ assisted the revival by giving away needless penalties and making handling mistakes. Things worsened on forty eight minutes when prop Jason Marshall was sin binned. This gave the Navy some more momentum, and after a break from their stand-off that was stopped just short of the RGC try line they swung the ball to their right where they had a two man overlap for Darren Bamford to score their only try, 43-8. Four minutes later RGC were down to thirteen men when scrum-half Sean White was also sin binned but rather than weaken the Gogs’ line further it served to galvanise them into more effort. With fourteen men the Gogs moved up towards the Navy line again and Jebb Sinclair completed his hat-trick with a try under the posts. Rhodri Carlton Jones added the two points to make it 50-8.
The final try came three minutes later with another training ground move from the backs which started form within RGC’s own half. The ball started on the right and the ball was run across the line for Dylan Gwyn Owen to score his second try and Rhodri Carlton Jones to convert, 57-8.
Although the scoring stopped at this point there was still some exciting rugby for the crowd to watch. Head coach Clive Griffiths made sure all his replacements got on the pitch and they all acquitted themselves well. The final fifteen included three players who had come through the ranks of the RGC academy system, Bryn Phillips, Alex Schwartz and Shaun Strudwick, all of whom fitted in well and provided optimism for the future of North Wales’ rugby.
With the final whistle and Sean White announced as man-of-the-match, the season was over. The RGC lads seemed to have made history every time they played in the second half of the season and they can be justifiably proud of what they have achieved. A combination of first class coaching and exemplary dedication and execution by all the players who donned the RGC shirt has established RGC firmly on the Welsh rugby map. What next? We will have to wait and see but the fixtures promised for next season seem even better than this presenting more challenges and the opportunity for greater achievements.
One final note after the game it was announced by Clive Griffiths that the players’ player of the season was Llandudno’s Kelvin Davies who responded by saying this was the best season of his career (so far).
So it is only left for us to say “Diolch yn fawr” to our Canuk friends for the contribution they have made to this season, and wish them well for their forthcoming tournaments. Your commitment, enthusiasm and skill has rubbed off on our North Walian players who are now playing at a level even they didn’t think possible at the beginning of the season. Once again, diolch yn fawr, pob lwc, taith ddiogel adref i chi – thank you, good luck, safe journey home.
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