Fixture

The final of the Afan Nedd district cup was spectacularly won by the Quins playing some superb rugby, a nine try demolition of the Swansea Valley team was a glimpse of whats to come for the senior teams next season, a month of regular rugby with more or less a full squad as meant the Quins have hit a rich seam of form at the business end of the season. The loss of outside half, top points scorer, Keiran Davies from their comfortable victory over Tonmawr the previous Saturday had less impact than expected with the young Dai Morley stepping up and playing with a welcome maturity. He attacked the gain-line bringing his centres, Quade Boal and Jack Dacey onto the ball powerfully, stepping, swerving  the trio made numerous telling breaks. Dacey supporting well to finish off a thrilling team effort.
A feature of the Quins rugby is their off loading and support play with all players comfortable with the ball in hand, tempo and pace is a real feature and when the teams collective tail is up they are a joy to watch, the epitome of this style is Aris Kolazakis the all action open-side, not renowned as subtle passer of the ball, but a one handed reverse pass was a cracking effort in the build up to a try by hooker Tyler Hopkins.  Indeed Tyler was instrumental in a couple of tries and was like a second open-side on the paddock, added to a strike against the head it wasn’t a bad day at the coalface for “Cwm Boy”.
Kolazakis was part of a back row that was sublime, Dylan McLauchlan loves the tight stuff with his mauling strength a real feature, he grafts with or without the ball, relishing a physical contest, he went close to scoring from a driving maul close to the Ystrad line. Number 8 Conor O’Callaghan had a great day in the wide open spaces, carrying with speed and powerfully bursting tackles, he hits good angles and plays with an intelligence of the outside half he once was. The constant supply of ball by the athletic front five provides a platform that the team plays off, two lock forwards Callum Beynon and Jon Thomas were beacons that the forwards are drawn to. Beynon gathering competitive kick offs with ease, “like picking an apple from a tree” was a quote by one of the many supporters.  Thomas was amid every thing and spoiled a lot of any decent recycling Ystrad attempted, he counter rucks with a great technique and on the flip side ensures the Quins recycle quickly.
The Quins props are what modern props should be big, fit and strong with no little pace or footballing nous, a great effort by loose head Luke Davies to tackle a winger (who thought he had a mismatch and was clear) was one of the highlights of the evening.  Mike Burgess brought the proceedings to an end with a try which he, himself, converted. This was a topping to mix of powerful scrummaging (both sides), big hits near the breakdown, strong carrying of both 9 an 10, he also leads the pack well and was a deserved Man of the Match, in a game that had many contenders for the gong.
Captain of the team, and the fulcrum of the style the Quins play, Jacob Flynn scored a typical 40 metre effort, he upped the pace and chattered away at the forwards constantly.  Counterattack off turn overs and loose kicks are a feature of the Quins play, Kyle Williams had some difficulty with the setting sun early on but recovered his composure and returned kicks with big yardage gains, he entered the line at good angles and showed his pace on numerous occasions.  The two wingers revelled in the extra width the Talbot Athletic Field offers and accurate passes from the centres,  Dacey and Boal, offered them opportunities to exploit, whilst Harley Evans and Nathen Egan are not the modern trend of big wingers, their great pace, surprising strength and stepping ability are a rapier sword rather than the bludgeon. Sharing 4 tries, 2 a piece, the wingers created excitement when the ball came their way.
With the scoreboard rattling along the bench was emptied within 10 mins of the second half, the tempo lulled for awhile with many niggling injuries slowing the game, when normal service was resumed the Quins went up the gears, Dan Helson was technically superb,  Rusty Robins, who took over from Beynon with his restart takes, also took a strike off the Ystrad scrum.  Rhys Livingstone added his considerable frame to driving lineouts and tackled strongly, Conner Davies showed up well and his handling skills was a feature in the build up to both Egan and Jack Coughlin’s try.  Replacement scrum half Callum Curtis was a feisty thorn in the Ystrad wounds and replacement wing Rhys Edmonds nearly sneaked over in the corner during the final moments.  All in all a great win against a Ystrad side that showed a stubbornness until the end.
The Quins will now face a Penallta side that defeated them in last seasons League Winners cup final, revenge could be on the cards, well done “The Band of Brothers”.

Andrew Dacey