Newport schools U15s prevailed victorious yesterday as Pontypool Park was the venue for the third annual Dragons Dewar Shield Challenge, sponsored by Johnsey Estates. The five U15s schools districts from within the region and the Welsh Exiles go head to head in an action packed day of rugby.
In a tightly contested final, two James Hussey tries proved the difference as Newport retained the trophy they won for the first time last year, as Chris Cornford’s youngsters came from behind against an impressive Rhymney Valley who took an early lead thanks to a try by the impressive Patric Lewis. Having notched an impressive victory in the opening game against Pontypool Schools, Rhymney Valley seemed to be the first Caerphilly borough based district to win the event having scored after just 40seconds in the final, but as the game wore on, the Newport pack began to take control and pressure eventually told as Hussey crashed over twice at first receiver from close range. For Rhymney Valley, try scorer Patric Lewis looked dangerous behind as he ran their opponents ragged all afternoon, whilst outside half Arwel Robson provided some mature performances at outside half, getting his backline to function, as well as demonstrating his reliability with the boot. In the pack, Joel Edward and Connor Jones Graves also impressed.
For Newport, No8 and captain Ben Watts was impressive throughout with some barnstorming runs from the base of the scrum providing a platform for Hussey to get his backline flowing. Barney Nightingale demonstrated his ability with a brace of tries, as well as notable performances from Rob Wainwright who featured at both full back and centre.
In the 3-4th place match, Pontypool schools ran ragged against Islwyn who had impressed earlier in the day. Amassing 11 tries throughout the day, five of these came in a blistering first half, as they raced into a 33-0 lead, with a brace of tries coming to Nathaphong (Tai) Homchuen and Connor Edwards. Marcus Jones provided the fifth. Wholesale changes at half time provided a more evenly matched second half, which saw Islwyn take the only try from no8 Matthew Donovan. For Pontypool, who had previously lost to Rhymney Valley and beaten Welsh Exiles, open side Lloyd Phillips was superb all afternoon at the breakdown and carrying in open play. Performances from Homchuen, George Collins and Gareth Jones also provided the coaches with some tough decisions over selection before their forthcoming game against Newport Schools. For Islwyn, the back row partnership of Jonathan Viney and Matthew Donovan proved industrious throughout, and played a big role in their victory over Blaenau Gwent and narrow defeat to Newport. Centre Lewis Williams also impressed.
In the 5th-6th Play-off match, tries were in abundance as Welsh Exiles ran riot with seven tries in a 43-5 victory over Blaenau Gwent. With the score line at 12-5 at half time, the second half was set to be a competitive encounter, but Blaenau Gwent simply folded, and tries soon followed to skipper Dan James, winger Amos Pakpahan and centre John Williams. In their earlier games, the exiles had lost to both Pontypool and Rhymney Valley, whilst Blaenau Gwent, with David Rubasniak leading from the front seemed competitive against Islwyn and Newport, which makes their final performance all the more disappointing.
Scores from yesterdays’ Johnsey Estates Challenge Cup:
Game 1: Rhymney Valley 13 - Pontypool 5
Game 2: Islwyn 12 - Blaenau Gwent 0
Game 3: Wales Exiles 3 - Rhymney Valley 17
Game 4: Newport 17 - Islwyn 15
Game 5: Pontypool 35 - Wales Exiles 5
Game 6: Newport 10 - Blaenau Gwent 0
5th/6th Place Playoff: Wales Exiles 43 - Blaenau Gwent 5
3rd/4th Place Playoff: Pontypool 33 - Islwyn 5
Final: Newport 14 - Rhymney Valley 7
In the next round of matches to take place, Blaenau Gwent travel West to Aberaeron to face Ceredigion on Wednesday 22nd, Whilst in the top tier of the competition on Friday 24th February, Newport will host neighbours Pontypool on Rodney Parade for a 5:30pm KO. With local bragging rights, Regional 16s jerseys and a place in the Semi Finals up for grabs, tensions will be high for what should be a feast of rugby. Come and make some noise for the boys!!
