Narberth 19 pts. Carmarthen Quins 52

The score does not show the effort put in by the Otters for the first 60 minutes. Narberth officials had worked hard all week in preparation for this second round Wales Cup match.

The opening minutes were spectacular for the first televised rugby game in Pembrokeshire.

The ground was perfectly prepared, a large crowd attended and a great guard of honour by members of the Narberth RFC junior section. The players of both teams were given a tremendous welcome as they entered the playing area. TV cameras of S4C were everywhere and even Phil Steel was in the stand broadcasting summaries for BBC Wales Saturday Sport on radio.

This was as close as a derby situation atmosphere could be, and in the Quins squad, there were five players who had played for the Otters, including two really local products in Connor Lloyd and Josh Helps.

The WRU provided a top class referee in Rhys Thomas, two official touch judges and a TMO.

However, before the game could start the referee blew his whistle for a minute’s silence in respect of Chris Richards, who as chairman and groundsman of Narberth Cricket Club liaised closely with the rugby club, Mrs. Anne Davies (Anne the Dragon), late wife of supporter Keith Davies, and Mrs. Dilys Edwards whose family supported the club over many years.

The game started with the Otters kicking off and immediately put pressure on the Quins who scrambled to clear the ball near the five metre line, but were forced into a ruck and were immediately penalised enabling the fly half Ianto Griffiths to give the Otters a three points lead.

The Otters continued to attack the Quins who were penalised at the scrum and then at the ruck which resulted in Ianto Griffiths slotting over another penalty to increase the Otters lead.

At this stage, the fly half was containing the Quins with his kicking.

The Quins responded with the ball in hand with good support play. Unfortunately, for the Otters, a Quins player was tackled off the ball, and as a result, the penalty kick gained the Quins a lineout on the five metre line. This resulted in a period of intense pressure on the Otters line and via a number of phases the ball was released to Connor Lloyd who fed his threes.

Quick handling resulted in a clear overlap enabling Quins outside centre and captain Rhys Williams a clear run to the line for an unconverted try which apparently was his 100th try for the Quins. This was at 13 minutes bringing the score to 6-5.

The Otters’ game plan of containing Quins with kicks worked again when the Quins fumbled the ball from a ruck and were penalised at the subsequent scrum for illegal scrimmaging. Once again, Ianto Griffiths increased the Otters lead to 9-5 with a fine kick.

The Quins kicked out and gained a penalty at the resulting ruck. Callan Price kicked to the corner. After a second lineout, the Quins set-up a rolling maul crossing the line with the referee awarding a penalty try and issued Tom Slater a yellow card.

With fly half Callan Price suffering a leg injury, Connor Lloyd successfully kicked the conversion putting the Quins in the lead at 23 minutes.

From the kick out, Liam Hutchings challenged a high kick which resulted in the TMO being called into action awarding the Quins a penalty kick. The injured Callan Price was then replaced by Craig Evans.

Again, the Quins attacked the Otters in their 22 and when a scrum was called. The Otters moved Dewi Williams into the front row. The Otters were penalised, Quins kicked to the corner and set-up a rolling maul from the lineout crossing the line and collapsing as a group, with Nathan Williams declared as scorer of the try with Craig Evans converting.

From the kick out, the Otters attacked causing errors and eventually the Quins were penalised at the ruck enabling Ianto Griffiths to step up for yet another successful penalty. The score now 12-19.

Moments later, a try went astray for the Otters when they broke forward with number eight Steffan Phillips attempting to slip the ball to wing Liam Hutchings only for the ball to slip behind him into touch with the try line clearly in sight.

For the remaining five minutes, the Otters had the better of the exchanges, the half ending with Connor Lloyd kicking into touch to relieve the Otters pressure.

The first half reflected the strength possessed by the Quins. The Otters kicking game did help to contain the Quins, but their pack seemed stronger with Nathan Williams providing a strong anchor in the scrum helping to limit the Otters possession with the yellow card being a bitter blow.

Second half the Quins clearly wanted more points early on and after a few phases, the Otters were given a scrum five metres out. The Quins were able to push the Otters back and on the heel the Otters were pushed off the ball and when released on the Quins side, the Otters offended. The scrum was reformed and again the Quins pushed them back, this time the referee warned Tom Slater for twisting and reset the scrum. It was reset and again the Otters were pushed back, this time the referee blew for a penalty try which Craig Evans converted. This led to the Otters coaches bringing on Lewis Wood for Dewi Williams, Lyndon Cooper for Bradley Davies. The Quins also withdrew Nathan Williams for Rhodri Clarey and brought on Lawrence Reynolds for Morgan Allen.

The Otters were able to kick their way back into the Quins half with a fine touchline kick. At the lineout, the whistle blew with the referee calling for a rethrow, a scrum was awarded for a knock-on and at the first scrum, the referee advised Lyndon Cooper not to push upwards. The scrum was reset and this time it wheeled with the referee showing Cooper the yellow card. One assumes he blamed him for wheeling the scrum which seemed strange. The resultant penalty kick placed the ball in touch. From this lineout, the ball was fed to Connor Lloyd who made a telling break before being brought down. The Quins recycled and went through a few phases before getting close to the line and literally on the line the ball was slipped to Keiron Jones who twisted his way over to score, with Craig Evans converting.

At this point, Jonathon Rogers came off the subs bench to replace Ianto Griffiths and Calumn Tree replaced Sean Jenkins in the back row. Two minutes later on 63 minutes, after Jake Simms had collected a bouncing ball his kick went straight into touch. The lineout was won cleanly by the Quins and spreading the ball from the grandstand side Morgan Griffiths received the ball on the far side and with his inimitable strong running evaded the despairing tackles to score far out for an unconverted try, the kick hitting the posts. Further Narberth replacements were Lewis Gibby for Rhys Lane and Joe Hutchings replacing Ollie Reyland.

The Otters made a determined response going through many phases before the Quins offended at the ruck. Jonathon Rogers kicked well into the corner. Alex Jenkins jumped to feed Steffan Phillips, as he broke through his overhead pass to supporting players was knocked on and caught by Connor Lloyd. A scrum was awarded and unfortunately the scrum wheeled and the Otters penalised enabling the Quins to clear the threat to touch midway on the opposite side of the pitch. The Quins offended at the ruck. At the scrum, the Otters heeled and Steffan Phillips broke away, kicking ahead. Unfortunately, his kick was too strong and the ball ended out of play. Narberth saw more of the ball, but the Quins defence remained firm.

It was clear that the Quins power play reflected their strength in depth of their squad which in the last ten minutes broke the normally strong Otters defensive shield and during the game took advantage of the Otters’ yellow card situations.

Later head coach Sean Gale commented: “Carmarthen Quins are one of the strongest sides in the Premiership and on the day had five or six Scarlets players. Our players are amongst the best outside of the Premiership.

“We played really well for 60 minutes; we matched up to them and made them make mistakes. Our defence was strong, and first half, our kicking game was good, but in the last 20 minutes, we fell away and did not cope so well with the intensity. Their bench included Scarlets players.

“Second half, we lacked good ball and the two yellow cards in the game were crucial and they took advantage of the situation. The intensity of refereeing was high and the yellow cards seemed harsh, but we have to accept these decisions. The lads played really well. The club put on a spectacle infront of the TV cameras and everyone can be proud.

“In the last 20 minutes, we kicked too much in their 25 losing possession possibly caused by fatigue. Overall, the lads played really well holding them to 12-19 for 60 minutes. “We now need to put in some hard work during the week, to return to the Championship and win our final games.

“In the clubhouse, the match sponsors awarded man of the match to fly half Ianto Griffiths.”

Narberth fielded: James Stephenson, Nick Gale, Jack Price, Ollie Reyland, (Joel Hutchings), Liam Hutchings, Ianto Griffiths (Jonathon Rogers), Rhys Lane (Lewis Gibbin), Bradley Davies (Dylan Cooper), Dan Smith, Tom Slater (Ryan Rees), Jake Simms (Adam Clarke), Alex Jenkins (capt.), Dewi Williams (Calumn Tree), Sean Jenkins, Steffan Phillips Lewis Wood.