In the British & Irish Cup, Aberavon have lost two from two ahead of their first ever fixture against the championship outfit.
Plymouth opened their campaign by suffering their first home loss of the season against British & Irish Cup holders Munster A. Although Plymouth started well, the Irish side scored two quick tries. Henry Slade and Brett Beukeboom both went over for the home side but Munster A led 20 – 15 at the break. The visitors extended their lead in the second half and although Aaron Carpenter scored another try for Plymouth it was too little too late, Munster A ending up 26 – 22 winners.
The following week Plymouth conceded nine tries as they lost 59 – 26 at Rotherham. Tom Bowen went over early on for Plymouth but by the time he scored again, just before the interval, the home side had secured the bonus point after four tries. The Titans scored five more tries in the second half. However, the visitors did get a bonus point after both Paul Bailey and Jamie Salter crossed.
In the 12 team RFU Championship, Plymouth have won five from 11 and are currently eighth in the table. They won four of their opening five games as they saw off Doncaster, Leeds, Moseley and Rotherham.
A heavy loss at Bedford a week before the start of the British & Irish Cup saw a change in fortunes for the club as they have lost five of their last six league games. After Bedford, defeats came at then hands of Nottingham, Jersey, Bristol and – last weekend – Newcastle. Plymouth’s only win in this period came at home to London Scottish on November 9th.
Away from home, in both the British & Irish Cup and RFU Championship, Plymouth have won one from six. Their only win away from The Brickfields coming at Moseley when they won 24 – 22 on September 22nd.
ABERAVON: 15 HOWARD THOMAS 14 RICHARD CARTER13 BEN JOHN 12 MATTHEW JENKINS 11 CHRIS LEWIS 10 JAMIE DAVIES 9 NATHAN JONES , 1 ROWAN JENKINS 2 IEUAN DAVIES 3 CHRIS JOHN 4 GAVIN RONAN
5 SAM WILLIAMS 6 BEN THOMAS 7 NATHAN BROWN 8 NATHAN STRONG
REPLACEMENTS 16 STEF ANDREWS 17 JOHN PHILLIPS 18 EVAN YARDLEY 19 IAN MOORE 20 ANDREW CLATWORTHY 21 NEIL WHITE 22 JOE TOMALIN REEVES
