WARREN ENJOYS A LANDMARK DAY
AARON Warren couldn’t have conjured up a better way to notch up his 200th appearance for Llandovery than with an Indigo Premiership victory over arch-rivals Carmarthen Quins at Carmarthen Park.
It was a great way to open the season for the Drovers and the 19-3 triumph also saw Warren reunited with his older brother Adam in Llandovery colours.
Adam returned to the club in the summer after leaving the Dragons.
“It was a great feeling reaching 200 games,” said Warren junior.
“I’ve been at the club since I was 17 and it’s a tough milestone to get to nowadays with injuries.
“It’s hard to get to 200 games, but I got there in the end.
“I’m a bit older and I made it at last. And it was great to have Adam back alongside me.
“He’s got a lot of pro experience and it was very special to be on the pitch with him. Then the win just topped everything off.
“It is always good to start with a bang and I don’t think the scoreline reflected our dominance.
“There’s more to come and we were happy to come away with the win.”
Warren has lived in Burry Port all his life and dabbled with the professional game after leaving Coleg Sir
Gar with a BSc in sports coaching and performance. While his elder brother went on to win a senior Wales cap while at the Scarlets, he had to make do with Wales Under-21 honours.
He played in the 2013 Under-21 Six Nations and was in the Welsh squad who reached the final of the Junior World Championships that year.
He signed a two-year development contract with the Scarlets and then moved to the Dragons the following year for a season.
He has been contracted at the Drovers since 2011 and loves playing for the club.
In addition to his rugby, he is currently a part-time delivery driver.
Having reached 200 games, the next two landmarks for him to chase are reaching 100 tries for the club and 500 points.
He has scored 92 tries and 474 points to date and, having missed out on the 25-19 WRU Challenge Cup win over the Quins at Principality Stadium in 2015 through injury, was delighted to put one over on them on the opening day of the campaign.
“It is always difficult to get a win in a local derby at Carmarthen Park,” he said.
“We started off strongly, forced them to concede a few penalties early on, but weren’t quite able to capitalise as much as we would have wanted to during that period.
“The good thing was our scrum was well on top and we closed the game out well at the end.
“We lacked a bit of accuracy, but that was to be expected early in the season and there is plenty of good stuff to work on.”