Ebbw Vale RFC v Newport RFC – 21st March 2026 by John Evans
The Black & Ambers had a welcome break from fixtures last weekend, giving the squad time to shake off a few knocks and injuries before starting on the last block of games as the season reaches a crescendo. Newport are in the fortunate position where they are involved in these big games again, so, whilst Ebbw Vale away isn’t quite the SRC Cup final, it’s as tough a task in domestic rugby that you will find.
The weather had turned distinctly spring-like in the previous few days and today was no exception; the going looked good to firm and the majority of supporters on the bank at Eugene Cross Park were in shirtsleeves watching two of the best teams in Wales.
Ben Roach led his side out onto the pitch, heading for the clubhouse end. Hunter Ward caught the kick-off from Ebbw 10, Tom Price. A maul crabbed infield before Dafydd Buckland whacked the ball safely to touch. Ebbw were sharp, though. A neat chip by Price had centre Ethan Phillips latch on to the ball and barrel his way upfield. The big green, red, and white shirted forwards got involved, both props Luke Garrett and Morgan Bosanko having a lumber forward, but scrum half Jon Evans, formerly of this parish, was superb, keeping the play going, searching out options until he spotted that Oli Andrew had drifted infield slightly. Evans boomed a pass out to wing Morgan Rees who had to check himself and evade Oli Andrew’s tackle before crossing out wide. Tom Price added the two-pointer to make it Ebbw Vale 7 Newport 0 with just 2 minutes on the clock.
Vale earned themselves a 6th minute scrum penalty when the Newport front row slipped. Ebbw went to the corner, flanker Sion Parry gathering the ball before hooker, and captain, Joe Franchi burst around the openside. The Black & Amber defence stopped him and great work from Carwyn Penny saw the ball ripped clear and Newport could work away, but the game was halted by the referee, Mr Craig Evans, as Franchi hadn’t moved following the collision very much. With both sets of medical teams working on him, Franchi was removed from the field on a stretcher, delaying the game by eight minutes.
Newport kicked clear following the scrum restart, but the kick wasn’t great and Vale responded strongly. Jon Evans was marshalling his runners expertly, giving the Newport defence lots to think about, and naturally, a Black & Amber shirt was pinged for being a nuisance. Tom Price lined up the kick to put the hosts 10-0 ahead with 20 minutes on the clock.
Jon Evans proved fallible at the restart as he fumbled the ball forward. From the scrum, Joe Westwood took the initial contact, Garin Harris got himself sort-of through a tackle before Harrison James moved the ball wide. Morgan Williams did well to retain possession, setting up the ruck until Dafydd Buckland was back to run the operation. Josh Skinner took Tom Workman’s pass and drove hard at the determined defence, but Oli Andrew joined the line at pace, evading a half-tackle and galloping over for Newport’s opening score. Harrison James added the conversion to make it Ebbw Vale 10 Newport 7 on 24 minutes. The injury picked up by Jon Evans whilst he tackled Joe Westwood would curtail his participation during the afternoon, and that was to prove pivotal to Ebbw Vale’s outcome.
A big scrum by the hosts regained possession from Newport, but they went on to yield a penalty at the next scrum. Newport looked to maximise this, Carwyn Penny kicking to 23-metres out from the line. The lineout was fruitless, but a resulting scrum wasn’t. The Newport front row edged their much-vaunted opposite numbers off the ball, forcing them to stand up. Another penalty was forthcoming, and this was to prove effective. Switching corners, Hunter Ward caught the ball at the tail of the line out, the rolling maul met little resistance as Ben Roach touched the ball down over the tryline. Harrison James added the conversion to make it Ebbw Vale 10 Newport 14 with 28 minutes on the clock.
From the restart, Ebbw Vale carelessly wiped-out Lloyd Lewis in mid-air; yet another penalty conceded and more evidence of dissolving discipline in the home ranks.
Ebbw Vale seemed off the pace at points, their usual iron-clad forward work being penetrated by the Newport back row. A 35th minute turnover provided possession for the Black & Ambers and they ambitiously tried to run out of defence. They almost managed it, to, until Harrison James’ long pass to Oli Andrew was judged forward by Mr Evans. However, it did, indirectly, lead to, in my opinion, the best try of the afternoon. A lineout ‘funny’ didn’t quite go to plan, but Newport retained the ball. Dafydd Buckland, calculating and computing everything in front of him, spotted a six-inch track to the left of the morass of forwards ahead of him. Lightning fast, he tip-toed along the touchline, Oli Andrew in rapid pursuit, chipped Ebbw’s winger, Rees, before the ball bounced up kindly to an outreaching Oli Andrew, allowing him to cross near the posts. Harrison James added the two points that Dafydd Buckland’s ingenuity deserved to make it Ebbw Vale 10 Newport 21 with 40 minutes on the clock.
Morgan Rees’ afternoon didn’t improve when he saw a yellow card almost straight from the restart. Oli Andrew was looking to field Rory Harries’ box-kick when the winger mistimed his challenge and wiped him out also. The penalty kick to touch was outstanding, long and accurate. However, we’ll draw a veil over the ensuing lineout.
Ebbw Vale were haemorrhaging penalties. A “seat belt” tackle on Morgan Williams allowed Newport to kick to the corner again. Ben Roach took the ball at the tail of the lineout, but good Ebbw defence halted the surge. However, Newport gained the scrum put in. Newport needed to increase their lead; Dafydd Buckland, predictably, had a dip at the line, Callum Bradbury was working hard for his teammates, while lively Wade Langley was popping up in unpredictable places. Ebbw Vale strayed offside, though, so Harrison James nominated the posts and slotted a three-pointer to put the Black & Ambers firmly in control.
There was time to restart, and Newport sought to move Ebbw Vale around. Morgan Williams spotted an opening, Kyle Tayler was within touching distance, and he made a pass out to Lloyd Lewis. The winger made his trademark in/out run as he looked to keep the Vale defenders guessing. Unluckily for Newport, fullback Dylan Edwards was equal to the challenge. However, Rory Harries, the replacement scrum half, offended at the ruck. Mr Evans had little doubt that this, too, was a yellow card offence, and he was sent to cool his boots for ten minutes.
With Ebbw down to 13 players, Newport gambled. An inventive lineout ploy had Dafydd Buckland sprint through the gap created by Ben Roach’s movement. Buckland was held up just short of the line, but the following pass out to Lloyd Lewis seemed laboured. However, the winger made the best he could of it, athletically diving into the corner, evading Ebbw flanker Ben Main’s attentions, to touch down. Mr Evans didn’t seem overly keen on awarding the try, despite Lloyd Lewis’ protestations, but on consulting with his Assistant Referee, decided that Lewis had put a foot into touch before he went airborne and it was no try.
Ty Morris and the Newport team of coaches would have been much the happier of the two sets of management at this point. Ebbw Vale are rarely that poor for two consecutive halves. It would be interesting to see how the Steelmen responded.
Half Time: Ebbw Vale RFC 10 Newport RFC 24
Carwyn Penny restarted the game, Ebbw booting the ball straight back to touch. The Newport lineout went long, but Ben Roach found himself quickly isolated and was penalised.
A strong run by Ebbw number 8 Ryan Jenkins skittled Newport defenders as he went. The Ebbw forwards were working well, drawing Newport offside. The hosts went to the corner but were foiled when Ben Roach got fingertips to the ball flipping it back on Newport’s side and Dafydd Buckland could start to guide Newport away from danger. A great rip by Hunter Ward regained Newport possession allowing Harrison James to kick long. Ebbw returned the kick, Carwyn Penny catching it on the full. He was quickly caught by the advancing home jerseys and held onto the ball for too long. Ebbw went to the corner again, set themselves for a series of drives at the Newport line, but with their scrum half still in the bin, Tom Price, their outside half showed his positional inexperience by trying to kick ahead, while in the opposition 22, and the cumbersome kick ran dead letting Newport off the hook.
Ebbw Vale yielded another penalty around centre-field on 48 minutes, play going wide. There was a fracas, of sorts, which was difficult to see from my position, but talking to spectators nearer the incident after the game, it would appear that Dafydd Buckland and Ebbw centre Ethan Phillips were tussling until Phillips made a head-forward ‘headbutting’ motion at Buckland. The Assistant Referee on that side had a full view of the incident and flagged Mr Evans. They conferred and Phillips was shown a red card. Harrison James punished the hosts for that with a well-taken penalty making it Ebbw Vale 10 Newport 27.
Hunter Reid was withdrawn on 55 minutes, Josh Reid taking his place in the back row.
Newport were rewarded with a free kick following an Ebbw lineout. A quick pass to Carwyn Penny and he belted the ball long, the ball bouncing into touch for a cheeky 50:22. The rolling maul set up well and Vale infringed once more. However, terrific work by the Ebbw forwards regathered the ball from the resulting penalty and they could clear their lines.
Ollie Drake and Henry Palmer joined he fray, replacing Garin Harris and Wade Langley respectively.
Ebbw Vale were edging their way back into the game, a determined charge down by Rory Harries, close to the Newport line, happily rolled into touch, but could have been punished more severely. Indeed, Newport were pinged for not rolling away from a tackle in a later phase. Chay Foster-Smith replaced Carwyn Penny during this stage of the game.
Ebbw Vale then demonstrated some of the physical forward dominance for which they have become infamous. A mighty rolling maul developed its own gravitational pull as everything in Black & Amber got sucked into it. It was halted, illegally said Mr Evans, Kyle Tayler being judged the culprit. Ebbw reset and relaunched. The rolling maul was hauled down just short of the line. Henry Palmer was the guilty party this time. Newport now had two forwards in the bin, Ebbw had a penalty try awarded and, for a few minutes, it seemed like anything could happen. Ebbw Vale 17 Newport 27 with 66 minutes played.
Josh Skinner was replaced by Cerrig Smith, while Lloyd Lewis made way for debutant Brogan Leary.
Newport needed to contain the Ebbw Vale team who could, possibly sense a comeback. And they helped themselves immensely on 69 minutes when a fantastic scrum drive had the Ebbw front row going upwards and in reverse at the same time. Harrison James coolly slotted the resulting penalty to make it Ebbw Vale 17 Newport 30.
Lucas Welch and Liam Newstead replaced Dafydd Buckland and Tom Workman on 74 minutes.
Newport had just about weathered the Ebbw storm, but a penalty for not rolling away set alarm bells ringing. However, Ebbw’s lineout was muddled and Rory Harries ended up simply chip-kicking the ball away for a simple ‘Mark’ for Morgan Williams. Also, Newport were back to the full 15 players at this point.
Ebbw still tried to play but had underestimated the abilities of Callum Bradbury. The big man possibly had his best game in a Newport jersey to date and added to the gloss by getting a hand to a pass, setting up a ruck allowing Harrison James to kick long. Brogan Leary set off in pursuit, but with Ebbw full back Dylan Edwards retreating, things didn’t look hopeful. However, Edwards opted to gather the loose ball and run back. Brogan Leary had other ideas; he snagged the 15s jersey, hauling him down and, as the cavalry arrived, the ball zipped left for Chay Foster-Smith to canter over near the posts. Harrison James kicked the conversion to make it Ebbw Vale 17 Newport 37, and the green, red, and white jerseys on the terrace slowly drifted away.
Ebbw Vale had capitulated. Their restart went straight to touch. A mighty Newport scrum heaved their forwards off the ball and Newport could attack at will. A good tackle on Morgan Willams dislodged the ball to give Ebbw possession, only for Newport to steamroller the scrum and earn a penalty. Harrison James looked to inflict more damage, kicking to the corner. Josh Reid took the line out ball, crashing to earth, just as Kyle Tayler picked it up and pounced to complete the try scoring. Harrison James improved it with the two-pointer to make it Ebbw Vale 17 Newport 44.
The restart went directly to touch again. The Ebbw Vale forwards looked dispirited enough as it was, without their backs doing this to them. Lucas Welch took the ball out of the base of the scrum and booted the ball off the pitch to take Ebbw Vale’s jealously guarded 18-month unbeaten home league record and, with that, Newport took temporary ownership of the Challenge Shield.
With Newport RFC being reigning Super Rygbi Cymru champions, Cup winners and Challenge Shield holders, this is a great time to be a Black & Ambers supporter!
Full Time: Ebbw Vale RFC 17 Newport RFC 44
Newport RFC are back in action next Saturday, March 28th, when they host Bridgend RFC at Newport Stadium in a Super Rygbi Cymru league fixture at Newport Stadium, kicking off at 2.30pm. Following that, we make the short journey back down the A48 to visit our friends at Cardiff RFC on the evening of Thursday April 2nd, kicking off at 7.30pm. This game is to be shown on broadcast live by S4C. Almost completing the regular league season, then, is another Thursday game, this time on April 9th when our near neighbours from Pontypool RFC pay us a visit at Rodney Parade. Why not come along to at least one home game? Newport really are playing attractive, winning rugby at the moment!
Onwards and upwards Newport.
Your City. Your Colours. Your Club
#cotp
Final Score – Ebbw Vale RFC 17 Newport RFC 44
Seren y Gem – Dafydd Buckland