The senior squad travelled to bottom of the table Tumble last weekend, confident after a five win run of securing another victory, against a young, inexperienced team short on confidence.

The match was played in atrocious weather to begin with, but as the match went on conditions became more bearable. The very wet, extremely heavy pitch and bitingly cold wind did not deter both sides from trying to play attacking rugby, but it did impact on the performances of both sides. Pembroke due to injuries and unavailability were forced to make a number of changes from the week before, whilst Tumble fielded as expected a youthful team keen to get a win.

Pembroke started well in the rain and put Tumble under pressure, making territorial inroads early on, but the home side defended valiantly. The much heavier Pembroke pack established early dominance in the set piece and this provided a solid platform and lots of possession for their eager backs, who looked to move the ball from the outset. After a number of early forays from the visitors, which were thwarted by determined home defence, Pembroke’s forwards eventually went through a number of phases to take them into Tumble’s twenty two and after some slick recycling, a charge from Toby Smith, who fed brother Sam to give a deft pass to centre, which allowed centre Dan Colley to crash over near the posts; the try was converted by No 10 Toby Smith. Tumble then responded with a short period of pressure and a few attacks, but these were halted by equally determined Pembroke tackling. After twenty five minutes, more phases by the hard working visiting forwards saw them release quick ball at the breakdown, this was moved wide to Sean Dalling, who showed great skill and balance to outstep a number of defenders to go over wide right to complete an excellent team try, which went unconverted. The rest of the first half was a dog fight, with both sides snuffing out each other’s attacks to maintain a stalemate with regards to the score at the whistle for the break. Pembroke however, had established total dominance at the set piece and their lineout was working well, so they enjoyed the bulk of the possession throughout the second quarter, against a plucky home side, that had had to work hard in defence, but had really failed to threaten the visitor’s line. This left the half time score deservedly at 0-12 to Pembroke.

The second half saw the weather improve, but the heavy pitch was certainly taking its toll as the home forwards continued to struggle against the heavier, more mobile and highly motivated Pembroke pack. Five minutes in and Pembroke’s forwards created a lot of momentum, went through phase play, retained the ball and eventually Sam Smith forced himself over the line for an unconverted try, much to the delight of his fellow forwards, as this was the first try scored by the forwards since Dec 29th. Tumble to their credit kept working hard and managed to get into the visitor’s half on a number of occasions, but were just unable to pierce an obdurate defensive line; they turned down kicks at goal to go for lineouts, but were unsuccessful and eventually Staff Price elected to kick three points from close in to get his team on the scoreboard. Pembroke made a raft of changes as the pace and mud took their toll. During the final quarter, as in recent matches, Pembroke then turned the screw and with the pack in total domination the flow of possession allowed them to mount many, consecutive attacks, which further fatigued an already tiring home team. Eventually, Pembroke’s persistence saw them create three more tries; the first scored and converted by Toby Smith, was the result of a number of phases and excellent support work, and when the ball was released to the backs, Smith threw a delayed dummy move, which opened up the defence allowing him to dive over. The second (and fifth for the team) again was the result of more excellent work from the forwards, who released quick ball to the backs, Smith went through a rehearsed move, which put full back Luke Hartland into space and he ran over unopposed from close in; Smith added the conversion. The young Tumble outfit to their credit never gave up, their forwards refused to give up at scrum time and they tried hard to capitalise on the scraps of possession that came their way, but to no avail. The third and last Pembroke try again was the result of more good work by the visiting forwards, who provided clean possession near the home twenty two, which was accepted by No 10 Smith on the move, he went through another rehearsed move and created a gap that he took to crash over for his second try; he failed to convert. Minutes later, the referee blew for no side and the visitors had deservedly secured their sixth win on the bounce and another bonus point victory.

Pembroke’s coaches were delighted with their squad’s performance, but immediately praised the resilience and determination of the young, inexperienced Tumble squad, who never gave up throughout the match. Scott Powell, Pembroke’s captain, was also effusive about the effort and perseverance of his team mates in difficult conditions. Pembroke’s pack laid the foundations for this victory with their power, confident handling of the wet ball and aggression at the breakdown, whilst their backs showed a lot of patience and skill in forging a number of the tries. Head Coach Geraint Lewis was again very pleased with the impact of the bench, who had added lots of energy, pace and extra power to the final quarter, whilst full back Luke Hartland was named Man of the Match, after a marvellous display in defence and attack throughout the match.

Pembroke now play fourth placed Tycroes at home on Saturday, KO 2.30pm, in what should be another hotly contested match, with the visitors determined to get revenge for their loss at home and dent Pembroke’s aspirations.

Pembroke: Luke Hartland, Simon Stanford, Dan Colley, Sean Dalling, Tom Harding Jones, Toby Smith, Tom Lewis, Jonny Palmer, Rhys Mainwaring, Lloyd Davies, Will Edwards, Scott Powell, Sam Smith, Jordan Gwilliam, Alex Thomas. Subs; Jack Smythe, Seamus Wiseman, Jordan Evans, Billy Wood, James Davies.

SECOND XV

The Tigers welcomed Nantgaredig to Crickmarren last weekend. Nant have only started playing at this level this season, with the same mantra as our club and that is to provide opportunities for Youth and fringe players to develop in preparation for senior rugby. The weather was wet, cold, windy, which in turn meant the playing surface was heavy and would impact on the fitness and stamina of both sides on the day. Pembroke welcomed new signing Dave O’Leary into the centre and had had to make a number of changes due to call ups from the first team. Nant were a truly eclectic side, with a few old heads, sprinkied amongst former Youth and fringe players.

Pembroke elected to play against the wind, towards the clubhouse in the first half. Both teams started well and it was still a stalemate at 0-0 after twenty minutes, when they traded territory and possession during a very even battle. Minutes into the second quarter, the home forwards gained ground through a number of phases, which freed backs Yori Roberts and Dave O’Leary to combine and take Pembroke into the visitor’s twenty two, where from a scrum five, flanker Danny James picked up loose ball and crashed over for the first score, which went unconverted. Pembroke’s confidence grew and soon after powerful runs by skipper Aaron Williams, back row Gareth Miller and James, put their team close to the visitor’s line. Nant were awarded a defensive scrum, but pressure from the home pack, forced the Nant defence to clear, but their kick was charged down by sharp home scrum half Rhys Cadogan and flanker James pounced for his second score; No 10 Ryan Wilikins converted. Minutes later, with confidence sky high and the momentum with them, Pembroke’s energetic forwards and particularly the experienced front five of Timmy Sharpe, Owain Johns, Sean Beynon, Luke Williams and Harry Dawe created lots of pressure and possession for their side throughout the game. Mid way into the second quarter, lock Gareth Miller’s charge, put skipper Williams in for a well taken score from close in; this went unconverted. Pembroke then replaced both wings to rotate their squad and put Dom Coleman into the pack and continued to pressurise the visitors until the break. Coleman however, suffered an eye injury soon after, which required attention and he had to leave the field. Despite his loss, the home forwards continued to perform really well in conjunction with their dangerous backs and at the break they were deservedly in the lead by 17-0.

Pembroke’s coaches asked their charges to raise their game in the third quarter to try to secure more points, in order to take the pressure off themselves in the last quarter, which they anticipated would be tough as the heavy conditions took a toll on the players of both sides. Pembroke’s No 10 Ryan Wilkins took this advice to heart and put in some marvellously accurate kicks from hand to pin the visitors back on a number of occasions, saving his own forwards legs into the bargain. Mid way through the quarter, Wilkins, who had performed and controlled the game so well for his side, got early ball from loose play and sliced his way very adeptly through the defensive line from twenty metres to score an excellent individual effort; he converted his own try as well. Nant then bounced back and took control of the next fifteen minutes and only determined tackling by the home forwards in particular kept them from scoring. Pembroke then reasserted control in the last ten minutes of the match, through their hard working forwards and skilful backs; five minutes from the end, young scrum half Cadogan picked up from close in and sniped over for an excellently taken opportunist’s try, which went unconverted and cemented a marvellous win for his team by 29-0.

The referee congratulated the two sides for an exciting and well contested match, played in great spirit. The crowd showed their appreciation for both teams as they left the pitch and whilst the Pembroke coaches were ecstatic with the performance of their entire squad, they were quick to applaud the tenacity and perseverance shown by Nant’s squad throughout the match. Nant then enjoyed the customary welcome and hospitality provided by the Pembroke club.

Pembroke: Owain Johns, Timmy Sharpe, Sean Beynon, Luke Williams, Harry Dawe, Gareth Miller, Danny James, Aaron Williams, Rhys Cadogan, Ryan Wilkins, Yori Roberts, David O’Leary, Darcy Langston, Matthew Lewis, David Baggs. Subs: Mark Jones (30mins for Lewis), Cadge Lewis (40mins for Coleman), Dan Evans (30mins for Langston), Dom Coleman (30mins for Williams) and Iwan Cole (65 mins for Miller).

The Tigers have not declared a fixture this weekend, but hope to play again the week after; details will be posted in next week’s report.

YOUTH

Pembroke youth travelled the short journey to Haverfordwest on a wet and windy, wintery Saturday. The game began with both sides battling for superiority in the very difficult conditions. Haverfordwest had the strong wind behind them in the first half and the boot of their outside half pinned the Pembroke side back in their own half in the opening exchanges. The home side opened the scoring, when their strong outside centre burst through the Pembroke defence and had good support from his centre partner, Isaac Hathaway, who scored under the posts; Johnny White converted, was successful. From the kick off, Pembroke responded well and replacement forward Leon Stewart was unfortunate not to score, when the referee adjudged he knocked on after he tried to pick up the bobbling kick off; from the ensuing scrum, the Pembroke front row of Evan Phillips, Shane Gwyther and Liam Brunton exerted good pressure to reverse the scrummage possession. From the resulting Pembroke ‘put in’, centre Tom O’Neill make good yardage before off-loading to young flanker Evan Sheldon, who crashed over close to the posts. No 10 Kyren Gray was successful with the conversion, taking the score to a tie.

Scrummaging became ‘uncontested’ just a few moments later, after the Hafert loose head prop was injured, accidentally in a collision. Pembroke’s forwards then began to apply further pressure, with strong carries from second rowers Josh Axon and ‘Judo’ Jon Wood to the fore. Prop Evan Phillips was unlucky, as he sadly lost control of the ball with the line at his mercy. There were no further scores in the half, leaving the score at 7-7 at the break, in a good contest.

The second half began as the first, with both teams contesting strongly for possession. It was Pembroke’s half backs Jared Sherratt and Kyren Gray, who continually pinned the Haverfordwest team back into their twenty two, with some intelligent kicking from hand. It was from one of these kicks from Gray, that the Haverfordwest defence tried to attack from deep, only to slip in the difficult conditions and lose possession, which provided ‘livewire’ centre O’Neill an opportunity to pick up the loose ball and sprint in under the posts unchallenged for a real opportunists score; Gray again obliged with the conversion. The Haverfordwest youngsters were suddenly galvanised and raised their game, and after Pembroke tried to run the ball from deep and were caught in possession, the home side got the loose ball to Josh Hamer, who took his opportunity very well to score out wide; the conversion was missed, but the home side gained a lot of confidence from this repost. As conditions continued to deteriorate, the Pembroke lads tightened the game up and strong runs from skipper JJ Jones and flanker Tommy John gave them a number of good positions deep in the Haverfordwest twenty two. The Pembroke lads kept up a sustained period of pressure, with both substitutes Dan Grove and debutant Kieran Cookson much involved. The pressure eventually told when lock Leon Stewart charged down one of the home outside half’s attempted clearances and after a battle to wrestle possession, Kyren Gray dived on the loose ball to claim the try; he missed the conversion, but had extended his team’s lead. This turned out to be the final score, in what had been an exciting and hard fought battle between two committed sides.

After the match finished it was agreed by the coaches from both sides that the two squads should be congratulated for their effort and willingness to play attacking rugby in extremely challenging, muddy conditions.

On Saturday the Youth travel to Crymych, KO 2.30pm.