Ebbw Vale and Newport eyeing Super Rygbi Cymru final

South Wales Argus

05-05-2025

Ebbw will face Llandovery at Eugene Cross Park for a place in the final after staging a major second half comeback to overcome Carmarthen Quins 45-35.
The Drovers secured their passage in the semis after eventually overcoming Pooler 39-20 after a tense clash at Church Bank.
Meanwhile Cardiff, who beat Bridgend 31-19, stand in the way of Newport and another final.
The Black and Ambers will now go to the Arms Park after coming from behind to beat Aberavon 40-25.
The Wizards had a wind advantage in the first half at Newport Stadium and led 13-5, but that lead had been cut to just a point by the break.
Second half tries from Jac Lloyd, Iestyn Galton and quickfire brace from centre Dai Richards added to first half scores from Lloyd Lewis and Dafydd Buckland to book the Black and Ambers a spot in the last four. Lloyd converted five of the six tries.
Felix Gilbert, Luke Davies, Rhys Thomas and Ashton Evans scored for Aberavon, with Ed Dunford adding five points from the tee.
Newport played half of the second period a man light with scrum-half Buckland and then second row Max Williams in the sin bin, but it didn't prove costly.
Head coach Ty Morris said: 'It was a beautiful day but the wind was gusting right down the field and we were against it first half.
'We made some errors that probably allowed Aberavon to build pressure on us, but we were quite pleased going in only a point behind at half time because of the strength of the wind.
'We felt it was a minimum of a 10-point lead and I'm sure Aberavon would have been disappointed to have only been 13-12 up.
'Our discipline needs to be looked at with the yellow cards but, credit to the guys, we still managed to score 21 points down to 14 men which saw the game off and we scored some lovely tries to finish.'
With Cardiff next up, Morris added: 'We don't fear anyone, home or away, and we know at our best we can beat anyone in the league.
'We've already gone down to Cardiff previously and done that, but what we also know is that, every time we play Cardiff, it's always an arm wrestle.
'We know what to expect; they're a quality team with some quality coaches and we're looking forward to what will be a massive challenge.'
Ebbw also had to come from behind in their quarter-final against Carmarthen.
Despite being huge underdogs Quins threw down the gauntlet to the Steelmen – with three first half tries from Louis Rees, Jac Howells and Lucca Setaro to take a 10-point lead into the break.
Ifan Davies opened the scoring for the visitors with a penalty and then converted all three tries.
Ebbw hit back with a rolling maul try from skipper Joe Franchi with Evan Lloyd converted and then picked up a penalty try.
A try from Canadian international Sion Parry cut the gap to three points at the start of the second half before Davies added another penalty.
Then came two more trademark tries from Franchi to complete his hat-trick.
Scrum-half Gruff Tough then raced clear and Lloyd's goal kicking pushed the home side into a 12-point lead. Setaro grabbed a second for Quins, but a final Lloyd penalty sealed the deal.
Ebbw head coach Jason Strange said: 'The players once again showed a real good spirit.
'Even though our accuracy was off at times, that togetherness they showed was fantastic – and it sets us up now for another semi-final.'
The win also means another clash between Ebbw and Llandovery – who finished second and fourth respectively in the table at the end of the regular SRC season – at Eugene Cross Park this weekend with a place in the final at stake.
The Steelmen are unbeaten at home all season and were victorious over the Drovers home and away which included wrestling the SRC Challenger Shield from Llandovery's grasp.
However Llandovery, Premiership league and cup double winners last year, dominated Ebbw in the final of this season's SRC Cup, winning 39-7. Euros Evans' side were also ruthless in putting Ebbw away 43-7 in their Premiership Cup semi-final last season.
'I think whenever you lose any game, particularly in semi-finals and finals, you always try and take learnings from them,' added Strange.
'We're under no illusions; it's going to take a top performance but it's a challenge that everyone associated with the club are really excited about.'
Pontypool fell just short against Llandovery although, in truth, the final result was harsh on Pooler, with only late tries from Harri Doel and Garan Williams making the gap look bigger than it was.
Doel also scored in the first half with Morgan Jones, Jamie Hughes and Jac Davies also on the scoresheet for the hosts.
Scott Matthews and Rhodri Cole scored for Pooler, both converted by Harri Ford – who also kicked two penalties.
Only trailing 17-13 at the turnaround, Pooler thought they had scored again on the hour when Matthews released replacement hooker Connor Chapman – but it was ruled out by the TMO after Matthews was adjudged offside at the breakdown.