Narberth 32 pts. Swansea 39

This WRU Championship clash on Saturday was a real rugby treat for onlookers and, as it turned out, a good test of nerves for those interested in the England v Wales Rugby World Cup pool game later that evening.

A proverbial game of two halves, Narberth were whistled out of it in the first against a well-drilled and determined Swansea outfit, who seemed to keep the right side of the law, but in the second, the Otters produced a performance which rocked the All Whites and nearly pulled off an exciting victory.

The game was played in front of a good-sized crowd, enjoying the warm sunshine, with the Lewis Lloyd ground in fine condition.

Narberth fielded a weakened team, several experienced players being either injured or unable to play due to personal commitments.

The All Whites strengthened their squad in the close season and included past Otters captain Justin Hughes, one of the most experienced tight-head props in Wales, now the wrong side of 40.

Swansea, playing away from the clubhouse, kicked off. Initially, the Otters made determined efforts to unsettle them, but after seven minutes, following an attack of several phased moves, the visitors were awarded a penalty, which fly-half Jac Wilson made no mistake with to give them a 3-0 lead.

It soon became evident that the All Whites were using their disciplined pack to wear down the Otters and the home supporters were constantly unhappy with the number of occasions that their team were being penalised when the ball went to ground.

On 12 minutes, Swansea used a practised routine to move the ball quickly to the left winger Keelen Giles, who sprinted forward, using a beautiful swerve to avoid the Otters’ defence, and touched down near the posts for Jac Wilson to convert the splendid try.

The Otters at last gained an opportunity to get on the scoreboard when Ianto Griffiths kicked a fine penalty.

The All Whites moved further ahead with a penalty try on 16 minutes, achieved when given a scrum for an unfortunate knock-on and second row Adam Clarke was yellow-carded for offending.

Jac Wilson had an easy conversion to take the score to 17-3 and, now with only 14 men on the field, things looked ominous for the Otters. Nevertheless, they knuckled down to hold the All Whites and were unlucky when Ianto Griffiths was unable to convert a penalty into points.

A little later, Swansea gained their third try when once again speedy wing Keelen Giles sped 80 metres, weaving through gaps in the Otters’ defence, to score his second try, which Jac Wilson again converted.

What a talent this 17-year-old is, clearly a prospect for the Ospreys one day.

This was followed by a fourth try scored by their number eight John Fox, again converted by Jac Wilson.

Four minutes later, just before half-time, the Otters managed to score a try of their when, in a forward tussle, Lyndon Bateman ripped the ball off a Swansea forward. He passed to scrum-half Jonathon Rogers, who fed Ianto Griffiths, who quickly slipped the ball to Johnny Morgan and he burst forward to release centre Ollie Ryland to touch down. Unfortunately the conversion hit the posts.

The referee blew a few minutes later for half-time with Swansea leading 31-8 and gaining a bonus point for their four tries.

The second half started ominously when Otters prop Dan Jacobs was sent to the sin-bin with a yellow card. In order to compete in the scrums, number eight Callum Tree had to leave the field to be replaced by prop Ryan Rees from the bench. The Otters competed fiercely, but on 50 minute,s the All Whites scored via a Jac Wilson penalty, putting them 34-8 ahead.

The Narberth coaches made a significant change, bringing Rhys Lane off the bench in place of Jonathon Rogers at scrum-half. This was followed five minutes later by a Swansea player being yellow-carded. At this time, Narberth brought on Ryan Banner to replace Callum Tree.

Three minutes later, Narberth scored a fine try. A ruck formed in the All Whites half, Rhys Lane quickly fed Ianto Griffiths, who threw a long pass to Nick Gale, who made an excellent angled gliding break to beat the Swansea defence to score, with Ianto Griffiths converting.

Five minutes later, replacement Ryan Banner broke free from a melee, making 20 metres, and when tackled, passed to Rhys Lane, who was able to involve Nick Gale, who made substantial ground before passing to Ollie Ryland, who had no trouble beating the Swansea defence to score an unconverted try.

The Otters supporters, with spirits raised, began to exhort the players.

Three minutes later, a high tackle resulted in Ianto Griffiths kicking a penalty, which raised the score to 34-25.

Swansea came back with a vengeance, and two minutes laser Jac Wilson placed a penalty kick within five metres of the Narberth line at the clubhouse end. At the resulting lineout, Swansea took the ball and, using the rolling maul, forced their way over the Otters’ line for hooker Paul John to score.

Then on 73 minutes, the Otters were again crossing the All Whites line for wing Adam Davies to score, with Ianto Griffiths converting.

This really raised the temperature in the stand and, with the crowd roaring the Otters on, they succeeded in forcing the Swansea Jacks backwards. When, via a series of phases, they eventually got within 10 metres of the try-line, fly-half Ianto Griffiths sent a kick to the corner for winger Jordon Roberts to collect, only for the ball to fly over his head into touch and for the referee to blow his whistle for full-time.

It is conjecture whether it would have been better to pass the ball instead of kicking, but Swansea survived to gain a five league points win, with the Otters having to settle for two losing points.

Whilst the first half proved disappointing, there were some moments when the newcomers showed much promise. In the centre, Ollie Ryland looked a good prospect and it was no surprise that he was the match sponsors’ man of the match. Newcomer Ryan Banner showed up well and the Otters’ pack stuck to their task and made a real battle of it in the loose and at the breakdowns.

Later head coach Sean Gale commented: “The first half was very disappointing and Swansea had a penalty count of 10 to one, so we could not get into the game and in their left winger, they have a player who will surely be in the Ospreys within a few months. He was excellent. Swansea are a team of quality. We had a few choice words at half-time and could not ask more from our players. They were superb. We had Swansea on the rack and it was a game we could have won and should have won. Swansea are a very good side and are more professional off the field than us and the way the boys turned up second half was absolutely fantastic.”

Match sponsors were Ken Morgan and Associates Architects and Narberth Ironman Rehydration, while ball sponsors were Gareth Charles and friends and Former Players Reunion.

Narberth fielded: Johnny Morgan, Jordan Roberts, Ollie Ryland, Nick Gale, Adam Davies, Ianto Griffiths, Jonathon Rogers (Rhys Lane), Dan Jacobs (Ryan Rees) Tomos Ball, Ollie Evans (Scott James), Adam Clarke, Lyndon Bateman, Gareth Bateman (capt.), Callum Tree (Ryan Banner), Llyr Morris (Dewi Williams).

Pics. Elwyn Davies