I was delighted Ebbw Vale triumphed in their Swalec Cup clash with Cardiff at the Arms Park on Saturday. The Steelmen came back from 11-3 down at the half – what a win!
However, as Wales Online’s report of the game misspells the name of one of the Ebbw players, I have to direct you to the report by the excellent Alex Bywater instead.
It’s actually Ronny Kynes
Despite the recession, it seems Welsh rugby is doing alright.
The WRU must invest – and end the uncertainty surrounding the regional game – if the game is to continue to thrive at all levels
The WRU, which hopes to be debt free by 2021, today announced it would be investing £3.5m in rugby across Wales, including funding facilities for schools, grassroots clubs – up to £50,000 for each club – and the upkeep of the Millennium Stadium.
WRU Group Chief Executive Roger Lewis said today:
Working together for the benefit of all of Welsh rugby has to be the answer.
Quite. But money needs also to be set aside for the regional game, which has suffered through dwindling crowds and an exodus of top players to better-paid leagues.
Read more about the windfall at the blog run by An Early Bath‘s friend Trolley Boy.
More than 15,000 people – thought to be a record – spent Bank Holiday Monday at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium for the culmination of the WRU’s three Swalec knock-out tournaments.
15,308 people watched at least one match of the triple-header Swalec Finals day at the Millennium Stadium
Newly crowned Division 6 Central champions Glyncoch kicked off proceedings by coming from behind to edge out Division 4 East side New Tredegar 16-14 in a hotly contested bowl final.
An inspired performance from full back and man of the match Shaun Baggs along with a try for prop Mike Webb proved to be the difference between the sides in a compelling contest. Read Alex Bywater‘s full match report on the WRU website here.
Penallta (Division Two East) also secured a thrilling victory against a higher tier team as they resisted intense late pressure from Division One North side Nant Conwy to lift the plate.
The Pitmen edged a pulsating encounter 21-15, but were hanging on at the end, as the sin binnings of Rhys Silcox and Luke Purnell gave Nant Conwy an irresistible advantage in the scrums.
Penallta RFC’s captain Kieron Mahoney lift the Swalec Plate after holding off a late Nant Conwy fightback
Penallta had raced into a 21-3 lead thanks to a brace of tries from Silcox’s flank partner Ross Morgan, but the North Walians refused to give up, and could have had what would have surely proved to have been a game-winning penalty try as they clock ticked past 80 minutes. Read my full match report on the WRU website here.
In the final game of the day, Cross Keys overpowered Premiership 32-19 table-toppers Pontypridd to bring the first silverware home to Pandy Park in the club’s 127-year history.
Hooker Gerwyn Price scored the pick of the Keys tries, showing the Ponty defence a clean pair of heels to sprint over in the corner from 30 metres to spark wild celebrations on the Keys bench.
Rob Nash, Keys captain and man of the match, said the result proved his team was “one of the top sides” in Wales.
His coach Greg Woods described the win, which came just a week after losing the final of the British and Irish Cup to Munster A, as “unbelievable”, but Ponty counterpart Dale McIntosh described his team as “grieving”, while conceding Keys deserved their win. Read Alex Bywater‘s full match report on the WRU website here.
Before regionalism, I went to most Ebbw Vale home games and a fair few away fixtures.
Indeed, some of my best sporting memories are of the Steelmen pulling off shock wins, most famously on November 7, 1998, when Ebbw beat the mighty Toulouse 19-11 in a filthy day in the valleys.
It was Ebbw’s only win in that season’s European Cup, and to come against the 1995-96 European champions was made even more remarkable by the fact Ebbw had been defeated 108-16 in France by the same opponents just seven weeks earlier.
Premiership sides Cross Keys and Pontypridd will contest the final of this year’s Swalec Cup after yesterday seeing off Division One East sides Ebbw Vale and Newbridge respectively.
But both top-level teams were forced to work hard for their wins, with Ebbw Vale holding Keys to a draw and Newbridge coming within four points of Ponty.
In a nail-biting encounter at Rodney Parade, a second-half fightback from the Steelmen was not enough to defeat Cross Keys after a late Dean Gunter penalty tied the scores and sent the Premiership side through by virtue of having scored two tries to Ebbw’s one.
A good crowd watches Pontypridd edge Division One East side Newbridge at the Cardiff Arms Park yesterday. Newbridge earned plaudits from both sets of fans as they pushed their Premiership opponents, who were hanging on by the end, all the way in what proved to be a classic cup tie
An Early Bath 