WHITES CLAIM FIRST SUCCESS
SWANSEA head coach Hugh Gustafson was a relieved man after seeking his side hold on to pick up their first Group Premiership win of the season at Carmarthen Park.
Having put themselves into a healthy lead, the Whites almost blew it at the end when they went down to 13 men with two late yellow cards.
That gave the Quins a shot at redemption and they went mightily close to hitting the target.
“We spent most of the game dominating the collisions. That meant we forced the Quins to use their backs a lot more than they are used to doing,” said Gustafson.
“Our half-backs were outstanding, making sure we played in the right areas, and we built our pressure in the first half.
“Then we were on the edge in the last couple of minutes of the game.
“It showed how tight we are as a group that we were able to withstand everything Carmarthen threw at us. There was a long time added at the end.”
Everything went Swansea’s way from the moment Callum Carson intercepted a Jac Wilson midfield pass and raced 60 metres to the posts for the opening try.
Cai Evans added the extras and also improved two more tries.
Worse was to come for the Quins when they lost prop Ben Leung to a yellow card for a deliberate tap-down. No sooner had he left the pitch than Jay Williams sped over for Swansea’s second try.
Home centre Josh Batcup crashed over in the last move of the first half to cut the deficit, but Swansea grabbed the first points of the second period when Carson crossed in the corner for his second try at the posts.
The Quins hit back through a close-range try from back-row man Ed Siggery try before Owen Thomas went over in the corner to bag the bonus point for the Whites.
Scrum-half Matt Aubrey and Thomas then picked up yellow cards in quick succession to reduce the visitors to 13 men.
That gave the Quins a chance to mount a last-ditch revival and Leung went over from a quick tap-penalty to cut the gap to five points.
They went close to a fourth try, but Swansea just held on in a tense finale.