Steelmen become first team to successfully defend SRC Shield

The Gogs had gone into a 13-0 lead in the first half through two huge penalty goals from inside his own from full-back Sam Earl-Jones – and a converted Sam Stoddart try.

After the ball had been sent high from Ebbw to the left wing, it ended up in wing Stoddart’s hands and he kicked ahead and collected, racing in for a score which Billy McBryde converted,

The home side responded before the breakthrough scrum-half Jon Evans, as he picked the ball up from the back of a scrum to grab a try, which Evan Lloyd improved, to cut their deficit to 13-7 at the pause.

McBryde and Lloyd then traded penalties, but RGC were then left to rue a spell where they created – and spurned – two clear try scoring opportunities.

Ebbw took full advantage and, after a spell of pressure and a succession of scrum penalties around the 70-minute mark, they were eventually awarded a penalty try to take a one-point lead in the game.

The Gogs never recovered and two more home tries followed from replacement Ieuan Evans and a second of the match for Jon Evans sealed the deal for the Steelmen.

Outside half Lloyd – who landed the match winning kick at Llandovery the week before to snatch the SRC Shield from Llandovery’s grasp – converted both to also ensure Ebbw bagged all six points on offer.

It was a fourth win from five Super Rygbi Cymru matches for Ebbw and followed their home and away wins against Llandovery.

They will next defend the Challenge Shield against Newport on 23 November in their next home match. Similar to New Zealand’s Ranfurly Shield, the ‘holder’ will put up the Shield for competition in every home game in the regular league season.

“It was a great win in the end, but they gave us a bit of fright and we had to battle for it,” said Ebbw team manager Dan Haymond following the win over RGC.

“Our set piece dominated in the second half, which really did the damage for us and got us over the line.

“To back up Llandovery was important and RGC have been going well this year. They’ve had some good results and they’re a big team as well – probably one of the biggest teams I’ve seen so far.

“So, for us it was great to back it up and keep hold of that Shield.”

Ebbw trail Cardiff by two points – and it’s that 29-12 defeat at the Arms Park on 19 September which still irks them.

“We’re happy with the start and probably would have snapped your arm off for this at the start of the season,” Haymond added.

“But again, we were obviously really disappointed in the way we performed at Cardiff, because we didn’t show up really. It wasn’t that we were outplayed, we were just very poor that day.

“In hindsight, it hurts a bit more – looking at the other results we’ve had and how the league is panning out a bit.”

Reflecting on his side’s display, RGC head coach Josh Leach said: “I am proud of the boys for their effort, and it was a big improvement on last week at Pontypool, but the lesson is we need to be more ruthless away from home

“Our forwards did well defending the Ebbw Vale maul and we went in at half time with a well-deserved lead.

“We created a couple of chances, but weren’t clinical and you could see the momentum shift and from that point, we didn’t get to grips with the game.”