The game had to be postponed at the weekend because of the adverse weather conditions and it wasn’t the only game to fall foul of the snowy conditions. The Ospreys’ game against Nottingham was also postponed and is due to be re-arranged.
There was no joy for the Blues and Dragons teams in the tournament as they both fell to heavy away defeats. The Dragons were beaten 43-22 by Yorkshire Carnegie at Huddersfield YMCA, conceding seven tries, while the Blues went down to their heaviest defeat in three season in the completion, losing 70-12 at Doncaster Knights.
It was a third straight defeat this season for the Blues and their 12th in 15 B&I Cup ties. First half tries from Wales Under 20 stars Dane Blacker and Harri Millard, one of which Ben Jones converted, made it 35-12 at the break, but the Knights ended with 10 tires and nine conversions from the boot of former Pontypridd and Blues outside half Simon Humberstone.
Justin Burnell’s side will get a chance to set the record straight when the Knights head to Pontypridd’s Sardis Road on Saturday for the return fixture (kick-off 2.30pm). Revenge will also be in mind for the Dragons when their Yorkshire rivals arrive at Ystrad Mynach on Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm).
Wales Under 18 scrum half Callum Morris gave the Dragons an early lead with a corner try and a second try from Jon Goodridge put them back in front in the first half. The home side hit back to make it 17-10 at the break and then got a third try early in the second half to stretch out to a 14 point lead.
Centre Chay Smith reduced the gap with the Dragons’ third try, but the home side piled on the pressure to move out to 36-15 with 18 minutes to play.
Another interception allowed centre Chris Elder to bag his hat-trick, although the Dragons had the final word with a bonus point score from replacement scrum half James Leadbetter than Steffan Jones converted.
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