PACK POWER DELIGHTS RGC COACH JONES
Indigo Group Premiership RGC 27 Ebbw Vale 11
RGC head coach Ceri Jones knows a thing or two about the scrum from his days of playing in the front row at the Dragons, Harlequins and Wales.
That’s why he was positively purring about the performance of his pack in turning a tense tussle into a solid victory in the end at Parc Eirias.
The Steelmen led at the break and were well in the hunt until the home scrum took control.
“We made errors and our discipline was poor in the first half,” said RGC head coach Jones.
“Ebbw Vale came with more energy, which was visible early on, and we needed to come out and deliver in the second half.
“Against Swansea it was the accuracy of our driving maul that gave us the result and in this game the accuracy of our scrum was key.
“To pick up numerous penalties before picking up the penalty try is something that deserves to be highlighted.”
Ebbw Vale ran out of luck in the second half after looking more than capable of causing an upset on the road. Had Evan Lloyd’s penalty not struck the upright and bounced away they would have regained the lead.
They then lost replacement prop Ross Jones to a yellow card after successive scrum infringements and moments later conceded a penalty try as a result.
That was the end for the Steelmen and a third home try at the death put a slightly unfair look to the final scoreline.
The first half was a tight affair, with the visitors gaining the upper hand thanks to an early penalty from Lloyd and a try from Dan Hill.
RGC cut the gap to two points by the break with two penalties from the reliable boot of Dion Jones.
Lloyd hit the target again at the start of the second half, but the visitors began to concede more and more penalties as the pressure began to mount.
Wing Rhys Tudor went over for the North Walians’ first try and the conversion from Jones made it 13-11.
Then came the penalty miss from Lloyd and the 10-minute period of playing with 14 men for the visitors.
RGC seized their chance and Jordan Scott powered over in the wake of the penalty try, Jones converting.
RGC – Tries: R Tudor, pen try, J Scott. Cons: D Jones (2). Pens: D Jones (2). EBBW VALE – Try: D Hill. Pens: E Lloyd (2).