Newport RFC v Pontypool RFC – 9th April 2026 by John Evans
Newport were back at their ancestral home of Rodney Parade for the final league game of the regular 2025-2026 season, and the defence of the Challenge Shield would be given a stern test by our neighbours from Pontypool. Whilst they remain flat last in the League, they had an excellent home win against Llandovery last weekend that would have given them a lot of confidence and, if they needed any boosting before facing Newport, that would probably have done the trick.
Ty Morris and his management team made a few tactical changes from last week’s defeat at Cardiff; Wade Langley and Henry Palmer switched places, Palmer coming off the bench to make an impact, while Carwyn Penny moved from 10 to 15, Harrison James taking over at outside half, while Morgan Williams went to the wing. Unfortunately, Newport’s March player of the month, Dafydd Buckland, was a very late withdrawal so Tom Hoppe filled his vacancy on the replacement’s bench.
The conditions were good; a bright, dry evening with a light northerly breeze bringing a slight chill to the evening air. Perfect.
Harrison James kicked off, with Newport attacking the school end of Rodney Parade. Ioan Duggan, one of Pontypool’s lively wingers, tried to run the ball back. The visitors forwards went through the phases before the ball went airborne, Carwyn Penny kick-returning the ball just shy of a 50:22. From the lineout, wiry scrumhalf Ellis Lewis made a break, getting through several incomplete tackles to carry his side towards the Newport 22, but the ball was spilled forward once he was dealt with properly.
Newport gained a big 6th minute scrum penalty, Rhodri Jones and Ollie Drake continuing their partnership from the Cardiff game and were still having a destructive effect on opposition front rows. Harrison James kicked to 30-metres out. Newport attacked, bringing Chay Foster-Smith in on the wing. He was downed with 10-metres to go. Lucas Welch wriggled free of a half-tackle before releasing the ball, but Pontypool had stepped offside. Unfortunately, Chay Foster-Smith was injured in the tackle, so made way for young Brogan Leary. Newport called for another scrum and acquired another penalty. From the reset scrum, Harrison James found Joe Westwood running the angle, who managed to power across the line with two red, white, and black shirts hanging from him. Harrison James’ conversion attempt hit the left-hand post and bounced out making the score Newport 5 Pontypool 0 with 11 minutes played.
Newport were putting in a defensive shift until the referee, Mr Ben Whitehouse, spotted an offside. Pooler outside half Kieran Meek, briefly of this parish, kicked his side up to Newport’s 22. An aggressive rolling maul formed, heading forward at some pace until halted, possibly illegally, but hooker Sam Scarfe broke and dived across to score. Meek’s conversion was missed, equalising the scores at 5 points apiece with 16 minutes played.
Pontypool maintained their physicality and retained the ball well, gathering another penalty at a tackle situation. Kieran Meek punted his team to Newport’s corner. The lineout was thrown to the tail, the rolling maul was solid, and second row Liam Antrobus was in possession when the ball crossed the line. Meek added the conversion to put Pontypool ahead 5-12 on 21 minutes.
Ollie Drake rescued a loose lineout ball and got Newport moving forward. A penalty for no tackle release saw Harrison James kick to just 5-metres out. Callum Bradbury took the tail ball, the rolling maul crabbed infield with Wade Langley in the chair. With a penalty coming, Lucas Welch played the ball, Harrison James booming a pass out to Morgan Williams to score out wide. Harrison James added the two-pointer to make it Newport 12 Pontypool 12 with 25 minutes played. Bearing in mind the penalty award being played advantage, Mr Whitehouse sought out Pontypool captain Mike Herbert and showed him a yellow card.
Newport were awarded a free kick as Pontypool delayed the put in to a lineout. Harrison James kicked high and long, the bounce favouring the Black & Ambers as Ellis Lewis and fullback Ellis Davies dithered somewhat, but they sorted themselves out before any harm came.
In a repeat of the game against Bridgend where Mr Whitehouse also officiated, no sooner had he sent a player off from one side that he looked to balance the numbers. A tackle by Kyle Tayler, where he appeared to strip the carrier of the ball and play it while still part of the tackle, was met with a yellow card. Puzzling. Anyway, Kieran Meek kicked Pontypool to 22-metres out, but Callum Bradbury did well to gain a penalty on the deck. Harrison James’ cross-kick to Morgan Williams was slightly overpowered, but an Assistant Referee had spotted an offside in midfield. Harrison James booted Newport to 30-metres out whereupon the outside half was withdrawn from play, Noah Morgan replacing him. Clearly, Ty Morris felt things needed shaking up. Newport were playing through the middle of the field a lot, where Pontypool were effective. They needed to be moved around more, and that would need someone like Carwyn Penny to direct operations. Morgan Williams moved to fullback while Carwyn Penny moved forward.
However, there was a backward step before Newport moved forward. Pontypool got a hand to a Newport lineout. Kieran Meek nursed his team forward before his perfectly executed cross-kick found Ioan Duggan in the perfect spot between Noah Morgan and Morgan Williams to elude them both and score. The conversion was missed making it Newport 12 Pontypool 17 on 38 minutes.
Pontypool had Newport pinned in the corner in first half stoppage time, but they were unable to capitalise, a Newport knock-on bringing the first half to a close.
Half Time: Newport RFC 12 Pontypool RFC 17
Kieran Meek restarted the game, but Noah Morgan was flattened as he caught the ball. Carwyn Penny looked to put Morgan Williams into space, but Newport lost possession as play moved on. Pontypool took advantage and a neatly weighted chip by Kieran Meek was perfect for fullback Ellis Davies to steam onto, burst through a half-hearted defence and score the bonus point try for the visitors. Kieran Meek’s conversion was good, so the score now stood at Newport 12 Pontypool 24 on 43 minutes.
Pontypool made an error at the restart as they shielded the ball receiver; the punt to the corner was sound, but the lineout went astray. A later kick by Harri Ackerman to the corner, for Brogan Leary to chase was dangerous, but when Newport strayed offside, they were simply compounding their own mistakes.
Henry Palmer replaced Wade Langley, and the big hooker was soon making a nuisance of himself. Hunter Ward injected pace and directness into an attack. Ollie Drake made a strong drive for the line, but a pass out to Josh Skinner was picked off and hoofed downfield by the visitors. With the Black & Ambers fully committed to attack, there was scant cover in defence. Thankfully for Newport, Carrick McDonough, Marcus Jones, and Kieran Meek all, somehow, contrived to miss the ball, Noah Morgan popping up with it before kicking long and making an effective chase. Newport soon won the ball back, Harri Ackerman putting centre partner Joe Westwood into space. He strode through with Lucas Welch chasing in support on his left. A pass out, but the scrum half was tackled just short of the line. The cavalry arrived to support their mate and, following a series of drives, it was Henry Palmer whose name went on the scoreboard. Carwyn Penny kicked the conversion to make it Newport 19 Pontypool 24 with 49 minutes played. Game on.
What seemed to be a kick to nothing was made good when wing Carrick McDonough was held up inside his own 22, Newport gaining the put in at the scrum. From a set move, Carwyn Penny stood left of the scrum, passed out via both his centres to Noah Morgan who dashed in along the touchline to score Newport’s bonus point try. The conversion was from out wide, so the scores were tied at Newport 24 Pontypool 24 with 56 minutes played.
Pontypool got their noses in front again on 57 minutes. When Carrick McDonough knocked on the restart kick, the scrum seemed a formality. However, Newport were penalised, so Pooler opted to go to the corner. The lineout was taken at the tail, and it was a bit too easy for their talismanic back rower, Scott Matthews, to dive across to score. Kieran Meek missed the conversion, so the score now was Newport 24 Pontypool 29.
Kyle Tayler had done enough, so he was withdrawn for the ball of energy that is Kobi Rees.
Newport were pinged offside again on 65 minutes. Kieran Meek nodded at the posts, but the ball hit the left-hand upright. Carrick McDonough was alive to the situation, though and had to be dealt with before Morgan Williams could boot the ball away.
Following a Newport lineout, a Carwyn Penny pass bounced in midfield. This seemed to wrongfoot everyone except Kobi Rees. His searing run up the middle had Lucas Welch in support again, but the scrumhalf, in a near repeat of the earlier scenario, was tackled just short of the line. Rhodri Jones took a drive at the line, as did Hunter Ward, but the pass out by Carwyn Penny to Brogan Leary was perfect to run onto and dive in to score. Carwyn Penny added the conversion to make it Newport 31 Pontypool 29 on 71 minutes.
Tom Hoppe replaced Noah Morgan while Tom Workman replaced Rhodri Jones at this point.
Newport sought to extend their lead, Hunter Ward pouncing on a loose ball before going wide. Tom Hoppe’s kick infield for Lucas Welch was good, but Pontypool had cover and gained the scrum.
Pontypool kicked out of defence, Ioan Duggan seizing the ball and sprinted off, jinking inside Carwyn Penny before being caught and held up off the line by, primarily, Lucas Welch, with Brogan Leary adding his frame to the situation in good time. Newport were forced to make a goal-line drop kick, but Kieran Meek opted to reply with a cheeky drop goal attempt which fell short of the cross bar.
Liam Newstead and Cerrig Rees were Newport’s final replacements for the evening, coming on for Ollie Drake and Josh Skinner respectively.
Pontypool were patient in attack, but Newport were equally patient in defence, and it was here that it seemed the game was won for Newport. Whereas Pooler had been arriving in force until now, they were coming in ones and twos, and Newport were able to pick off attackers with relative ease. Callum Bradbury won a vital penalty as Pontypool failed to release in the tackle inside the Newport 22. Carwyn Penny opted for distance but didn’t find touch, however Harri Ackerman did fantastic work in tackling centre Joel Mahoney and wrapping him up to win the penalty. Even now, Newport weren’t ging to make it easy for themselves, fluffing their cues at a lineout allowing Pontypool to attack again. However, the ferocious Black & Amber wall did its job and pushed the red, white, and black shirts backwards. When a knock-on came, all Newport had to do was not concede a scrum penalty, allow Lucas Welch to collect the ball from between Ben Roach’s boots and belt the ball into touch for the win.
That was quite a game, and the viewers on S4C’s Clic would have been hugely entertained having seen the quality of the players and passion of the supporters that is on display in Super Rygbi Cymru.
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Full Time: Newport RFC 31 Pontypool RFC 29
We now await the results from the remaining league games this weekend which will decide who Newport RFC face in the Super Rygbi Cymru Trophy quarterfinals. Newport have ended the season in third position and will play whoever finishes in sixth at 5pm on Saturday, so probably either Swansea or RGC 1404 in all likelihood. Thankfully, we are well away from the wildcard round, as it’s been termed, so next weekend is Black & Amber free allowing the squad the time to rest and recover before the final push towards the end of the season.
Onwards and upwards Newport.
Your City. Your Colours. Your Club
#cotp
Final Score – Newport RFC 31 Pontypool RFC 29
Seren y Gem – Hunter Ward