Though the score line suggests a comfortable win, the final was a hard fought battle.
“I thought it was a very good defensive effort by Glamorgan, our boys had to make sure they stayed within their structure to get anything out of the game,” said Cardiff Met Coach, Nathan Evans.
“It was a well-deserved victory and we’re glad to come to Glamorgan and leave with the win.”
The Freshers’ League had been set up earlier this year by the Welsh Rugby Union and Active Community Enterprise Sport, to help develop university rugby in Wales. The league includes teams from Cardiff University, Swansea University, Cardiff Metropolitan and the University of Glamorgan with Sunday’s final the climax of what had been an entertaining season.
Both sides looked hungry from the start but Cardiff Met dominated possession early on with their backs looking extremely dangerous. A mixture of silly errors and good defence by the home side, including a turnover by captain and fly half Joe Bridger, ended some early attacking chances from the visitors.
Cardiff Met soon opened the scoring when, after repeated infringements by Glamorgan, second-row, Gareth Williams kicked two penalties.
The away side continued to dominate and the first try came soon after. A pressured Glamorgan scrum resulted in their clearance kick being charged down. Cardiff Met’s Flanker, John Dawe, was able to scoop the ball and run the remaining 10 metres to touch down for the try. A conversion by Williams increased the lead to 0-13 to the visitors.
Glamorgan fought hard to secure a kickable penalty but a miss by Bridger failed to close the gap. Things then went from bad to worse for the home side when their loose-head prop was sin binned for repeated infringements in the ruck just before half time.
With the opposition down to 14 men, Cardiff Met were dominating the game, almost instantly getting a chance to add another three points on the board. A miss by Williams though, was enough to keep Glamorgan hopes alive.
Glamorgan battled hard to try and keep possession but a number of miss-passes slowed the ball down and allowed the away side to put pressure on and force turnovers.
The same couldn’t be said for Cardiff Met and it wasn’t long before a buildup of attacking play resulted in an overlap. Ryan Bowett made the most of it to score the second try of the match.
Luck then seemed to turn in Glamorgan’s favour when Williams, was sin binned for infringements in the ruck.
It didn’t seem to matter though and Glamorgan’s fate was sealed in the final 15 minutes of the game when replacement scrum half Sam Watkins touched down between the posts. A successful conversion made it 0-25 to Cardiff Met.
The final try of the match came from the hard work of the Met forwards who drove over the line, with No. 8 Anthony Dickinson sealing the win.
