Gwernyfed travelled for their first excursion in Division 2, having never won at Cwmbran and testing themselves at a more senior level after back-to-back promotions. The large travelling contingent were understandably diffident – but with little justification, as the green, white and blacks under new skipper Will Eckley completed a seven-try romp.

Cwmbran 17 - Gwernyfed 45

Winning the toss and opting to play up the stern slope against a strong headwind, Eckley expected a torrid 40 minutes, and so it started, home fly-half Will Graham slotting home a penalty as Gwernyfed held on at the ruck in the first minute. However, that score did not preface an onslaught; rather, Gwernyfed demonstrated how to make progress with ball in hand, the upshot a try by prop Cellan Skyrme finishing off a maul earned as a result of some rapier-like three-quarter play involving centres Gethin Davies and Rhodri Williams and wing Tom Morgan.

Some stout defence, in which full-back Calum Fergusson was prominent, was called for in advance of the visitors returning to the attack courtesy of inroads made by Lloydd Powell, Tyler Morris and Rhodri Williams. That passage culminated in a sweeping move, an arrow-like pass from Rhodri Williams finding left wing Tom Morgan, who left the defence for dead to touch down.

Cwmbran struck back with a try that owed much to fortune. A defensive line-out in the Gwernyfed 22 was secured and cleared, the skier hacked back by wing Davies-Hopkins. The ball bounced over the advancing defence, allowing the winger to chase and touch down. Graham converted to bring the scores level after 20 minutes of engaging rugby.

On the half-hour, Gwernyfed recovered the lead with the best try of a nine-try game. After Geraint Powell secured a line-out on the halfway line, fly-half Morris went on a mazy run before releasing skipper Will Eckley. The lock belied his stature by making 25 metres at speed through the defence, finding brother Luke on his elbow, the livewire scrum-half going under the posts from 20 metres to allow Morris to extend the lead with the conversion.

The last ten minutes of the first period saw something of an arm-wrestle, but some stout defence in which Jack Williams and Kelly Davies were prominent allowed the green, white and blacks to turn around and take full advantage of both slope and wind in the second period.

From the restart, replacement prop Tom Powell, on for injured Cellan Skyrme, had the Gwernyfed eight on the front foot in both tight and loose, his powerful running causing mayhem in the home defence. When the hosts tried to make progress, their first sortie came to grief when centre Rhodri Williams intercepted a long pass to run in unaccompanied from 40 metres, the Morris conversion extending the lead to 14 points.

Within five minutes, that lead was extended thanks to the persistence of wing Tom Morgan. Flanker Eli Williams-Sweet won a penalty by way of a jackal on his own 22. Morris went for a deep line-out, only to be thwarted by a bounce that saw the ball dribble towards the try line. With the home full-back shepherding the ball, Morgan raced a full 50 metres to nip in under the full-back’s nose and score a real poacher’s try.

Just after the hour, Cwmbran did score a try through number 8 Jacob Marsh from a five-metre penalty. However, it looked to be a consolation effort – and so two subsequent Gwernyfed tries proved.

The skipper scored the sixth try, courtesy of some slick handling by replacements Craig Parry and Will Lloyd after Lloydd Powell and Gethin Davies had forged the platform, Eckley touching down out wide.

By this stage, the Gwernyfed eight had established complete dominance over their opponents, creating openings for their backs which Gethin Davies exploited with aplomb, taking the ball from the base of the scrum and cutting through a tattered defence to score from 30 metres, Morris adding his fifth conversion.

There is no doubt that sterner challenges lie ahead for Eckley’s team, not least when Croesyceiliog visit Talgarth next Saturday, but this was both a stylish and convincing victory that suggests that Gwernyfed will be more than competitive in the new division.