Fixture

Aberystwyth RFC 33 – v – 22 Yr Hendy RFC

Conditions were perfect for this first meeting of the season between these two well-matched sides. Aber had gone down to the lower half of Division 1 West after their defeat at Llangennech last week, and were one place above Hendy. Both sides had played sixteen games and both had won six of those but the home side was seven points ahead of their opponents.

Aber kicked off playing away from the clubhouse and with a slight breeze at their backs. They started well and kept possession with strong rucking and created some opportunities most of which failed due to poor finishing. When individuals made good breaks they often broke down due to lack of support , reluctance to offload or handling errors. Better communication between ball carriers and support runners would have helped.  The hosts kept play too tight with the ball rarely leaving the hands of the forwards. Hendy soon adjusted to their opponents’ predictable pattern of play and dealt very effectively with Aber’s attacks at this stage of the game.

Territorially, Aber were on top in the first half and edged the share of possession but they failed to use either in a sensible way and the visitors were quick to pounce on any spills. It was as a result of an Aber fumble out in the wide channel that Hendy’s left wing and full back ran the ball out of defence to score an unconverted try to add to an earlier penalty and take an 0 - 8 lead. The hosts went back on the attack and pressed hard on the Hendy line but their efforts came to nothing as they gave away a penalty. An offence by Hendy’s No 8 at an attacking Aber lineout earned him a yellow card but his side still won the lineout. Their clearance kick was fielded by Aber winger Ben Jones. He ran diagonally to his left making good ground before feeding Carwyn Evans, well up in support, to open his side’s account with  an unconverted try, closing the gap to 5 - 8. Steff Rees, at full-back, also made some powerful, tackle-breaking runs from deep but these fizzled out either from lack of support or hanging on to the ball too long.

Aber’s changed tactics after the interval as the ball was fed out far more and their backs saw more attacking opportunities as a result. They made good use of these chances and soon went into the lead following a powerful break by skipper Lee Truck, carried on by full back Rees who fed scorer Ian Ellis - in close support as ever. Steffan Rees’ conversion put Aber ahead by 12 – 8. The hosts were now playing fast open rugby against a Hendy side that had by no means slackened off. But when the ball shot out of the visitors’ scrum in mid field, ever alert flanker Iestyn Thomas scooped it up and broke for the line feeding Carwyn Evans for his second try. Rees’ conversion stretched Aber’s lead to 19 – 8.

A hand injury to prop Rhodri Evans meant a reorganisation of Aber’s front row which increased Hendy’s dominance in the scrum. Added to this, a yellow card for Aber’s Bryn Shepherd made life even harder for his pack and they were unceremoniously and powerfully shunted back for a pushover try by the visitors which, with the conversion, closed the gap to 19 – 15.

From the restart kick, Hendy were caught in possession and powerful rucking by Aber won back the ball for Iestyn Thomas to gather and feed Steffan Rees. His pass put Carwyn Evans in for his hat-trick try and his team’s bonus point which, with Rees’ conversion, stretched Aber’s lead to 26 – 15. The hosts’ final try came from a typically powerful break by winger Ben Jones down the right hand touchline. He gave a scoring pass to Jac Jones to touch down under the posts - the two of them showing their team-mates what strong carrying and good, close support can achieve. Steffan Rees’ conversion closed Aber’s scoring at 33 – 15.

Hendy however had the last word coming back strongly and playing their best rugby towards the end of the game. Their final converted try was just reward for their efforts and ended the game at 33 – 22. This win gave Aber maximum points, and, importantly, deprived Hendy of a losing bonus point.

Both sides will have learnt much about each other’s strengths and weaknesses in this match and will use these lessons for the return match at Yr Hendy on May 13th. Although Aber can compete fairly well in the lineouts, they will need to improve their scrummaging for that match. On Saturday, Aber’s backs scored all five of the team’s tries, vindicating the decision to change their tactics from a close, tight, forward oriented game to a faster, more open approach making fuller use of the match-winning potential of their classy threequarters.     

This win has put Aber back in the top half of the Div 1 West table. Their next game is away against unbeaten,  top-of-the-table, Crymych on 19^th April, kicking off at 7.30pm.