Fixture

Finally, at the end of a five week break for the Autumn Internationals, Brecon 1^st XV re-started their league programme with a home fixture against Fairwater. The break, in many ways, could not have come at a worse time. In their last match on 1^st November they lost and surrendered their top of the league place and their 100% record to close rivals Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd. It was important, therefore, to regain momentum immediately in order to maintain their credibility as one of the candidates for the league title. If there were any doubts then the result put them to rest as Brecon posted an emphatic six try victory over their opponents with the only repost coming from two penalty goals.

While the score suggests that everything went to plan the reality was not quite that simple. Brecon started very brightly and quickly established a seven point lead when centre Eifion Jones scored under the posts and Gari Davies converted. In this early period they looked sharp and far more dangerous than their opponents but instead of forging ahead they hit a massive lull. They fell out of favour with the referee as he awarded a string of penalties and issued a sin binning. The penalties handed possession over to a battling Fairwater team which gained confidence from the fact that they reduced the seven point gap to just a single point and the fact that they totally dominated possession. This they achieved in spite of the fact that their scrum was continually under pressure from a powerful Brecon unit led by the front row of Josh Williams, Liam Fahlman, and Rhys Jones. Josh Williams in fact not only excelled in this phase but also in the loose where he put himself about physically and verbally as he coaxed and cajoled his team back into the game. Brecon were also fortunate at this time that their defence held firm with the back row of Dafydd Thomas, Craig Davies and Osian Davies being very prominent.

As the half wore on so Brecon started to find some of the momentum and continuity that their game had lacked since the opening minutes but when they got themselves into good positions, with both scrums and lineouts on the 5 metre marks, they were thwarted because of crooked feeds or throws. In the end it took a Gari Davies penalty, almost on half time, to slightly increase their advantage to four points.

The half time talk from coach Graham Daley would surely have been interesting but whatever was said the impact was dramatic. A good run by Osian Davies led to a penalty which Davies converted. Then Brecon started to make ground and maintain possession as the ball was moved wide. Fairwater suddenly started to look less comfortable and gaps began to appear. However, for a time the frustration continued as Brecon failed to capitalise on some excellent build up work. A great example of that occurred when Gari Davies put Rob Price through with a short delayed pass. Centre, Price made great ground before being hauled down just short of the line but when the try seemed imminent the ball was knocked on and Brecon were forced to start again.

At this point also one of the Fairwater props suffered and injury and with no prop replacements scrums became uncontested. This certainly didn’t favour the home side which dominated this phase of play and one wondered whether it would be one of those days when a victory had to be ground out. If that was the thought in the minds of many of the supporters then they were quickly made to revise their assessment. The movement of the Brecon backs was now fluent and penetrative and a lovely loop move involving Gari Davies and Eifion Jones gave wing Jake Crockett some space, which he made the most of as he finished the move with a try in the corner.

With Danny Howe now stealing a number of opposition line outs the dearth of possession of the first half was now replaced by a flood and the backs made the most of it. Osian Davies again made a good linking run and again the ball went wide. When Crockett received the pass he had a lot to do but he outflanked the defence and raced in for his second try.

It was not long before the fourth bonus point try was recorded. A blind side move from a scrum was initiated by Number 8 Craig Davies. He drew the tackle and fed scrum half Dan Edwards who used his wing as a decoy while delaying a delightful pass to full back Celfyn Davies who hit the line at pace on a run that took him through to the try line. Davies converted and the pressure was lifted. The final minutes were all one way as replacement hooker Josh Davies crashed in for a try and then after a great break by centre Eifion Jones, Jake Newman crashed in under the posts. With Davies converting both, Brecon ended the day with mission accomplished. The bonus point win keeps the side well in contention at the top of the table and goes a long way towards ensuring that team confidence remains high in spite of the long lay-off.

The result will also have been noted by next week’s SWALEC Bowl opponents, Ystrad Rhondda. Ystrad hold a similar record and league position to Brecon albeit that they are a Division 1 side. They are second in their league having lost just one game. They obviously come to Parc de Pugh with a genuine pedigree and will undoubtedly pose a massive challenge for Brecon but this is what Cup matches are all about and there have been many giant killing feats in the past. The question of whether Brecon can mount such a challenge will only start to be answered at the early 2:00pm kick off next Saturday.