Fixture

Mount fielded one of their youngest ever teams in this game against Cardiff club Rumney in this Division 1 East Central encounter at Duffryn Pennar Park, with one Youth age player and four from last season’s Youth XV included, with the rest of the team made up almost entirely of Youth players from the last few years.

Rumney went in front in the first minute with a sweetly struck 35 metre penalty by outside half Mahoney in the first minute.

Mount were looking to move the ball and hit back in the 3^rd minute when a penalty at a scrum on the Rumney 22 was quickly taken by scrum half Morgan Cartwright. Backrow forward Daniel Phillips was put in space and took the move on, being tackled 5 metres out. The ball was quickly recycled and moved into midfield where a long pass over the oncoming Rumney defence put centre Jarrod Cushion in plenty of space for the speedster to run into the corner for a well worked try and put Mount 5-3 up.

From the first to the last scrum of the game, the weightier, bulkier, Rumney eight – with athletic, powerful running No.8 Mills their key player – held a significant advantage throughout the game, which resulted in regular penalty awards and the disruption of Mount put-ins.

A second 35 metre penalty by Rumney outside half Mahoney restored the visitors lead, making it 6-5. Mount’s right wing Callum Lewis, who was making his 1^st XV debut, almost got away down the touchline as the Old Firm continued to move the ball.

From a two handed lineout take from flanker David Richards, passed quickly to scrum half Cartwright, debutant centre Jamie Long took the ball at pace at an angle. Second row Jarrod Parfitt took the ball on into the Rumney 22 where a penalty award was converted after 22 minutes by wing Morgan James to put Mount back in front 8-6.

A pick-up at a scrum near halfway by Rumney No.8 Mills saw him break at pace to the narrow side and leave the Mount backrow for dead, but a misdirected pass saw the Old Firm recover the ball. After one clearance kick was partly charged down in the Mount 22 and then miskicked to halfway, a counter by Rumney saw centre Jarrod Cushion intercept and run 60 metres for a try under the posts which James converted to take the Old Firm’s lead up to 15-6 after half hour’s play. Another promising looking Mount attack up to the visitors’ 22 broke down when a low pass was knocked on and the visitors cleared.

Rumney could see that the scrum was their big advantage and made sure they played to it for the rest of the game. A couple of scrums in the Mount 22 saw the Old Firm lose a prop to a yellow card, Rumney opting to take another scrum and then walking the Mount pack over from 10 metres out for No.8 Mills to touch down and make it 15-11 at half time.

From the start of the second half the visitors played 10-man rugby. A penalty kicked to 10 metres out from the Mount line was followed by drive after drive and then a try from close-in by No.8 Mills, the conversion by Mahoney making it 18-15 to the visitors.

From the restart, an up and under by Rumney scrum half Williams looked to have been knocked on by the visitors when competing for the ball but the referee allowed play to continue and a Rumney player got away, and it took an excellent tackle by a Mount defender 5 metres out to stop a try.

The respite was not for long as Mount were unable to clear the ball from the lineout and a 5 metre scrum was awarded to the visitors. Although the Mount forwards held the drive, a number of close-in drives were finished off with a hat-trick try for Rumney’s man of the match, No.8 Mills, under the posts. Outside half Mahoney converted to take his side’s lead up to 25-15 after 52 minutes.

A 40 metre penalty by Mahoney after 59 minutes made it 28-15, but the Old Firm continued to compete for every ball and run at Rumney as every opportunity. It was when doing this that the visitors were on the back foot and started giving penalties. They were fortunate not to have a player yellow carded, but Mount were afforded no such luxury when a player was yellow carded after a kick through was gathered.

Unfortunately for Mount, hard-working backrow forward Daniel Phillips, another young player of promise, had to leave the field with a shoulder injury after a collision with a Rumney forward, which saw Ewan Rees replace him.

With time running out, a penalty to the Old Firm in the visitors’ half was kicked to 10 metres out. A take by second row Mitchell Barnard and a neat overhead pass to replacement hooker Jarrod Parfitt saw him drive over from 5 metres out to score Mount’s third try of the match after 78 minutes, wing Morgan James’ conversion from the corner unluckily rebounding from an upright.

The last few minutes saw the Old Firm trying to make ground from their own half but the visitors weathered the storm and full back Liam Jones did well to make a try saving tackle on Rumney’s main attacking threat, No.8 Mills, who put in a strong touchline run in injury time, to leave the visitors 28-20 winners.

This Saturday, 12 October, the same teams play again at Duffryn Pennar Park, this time in the Specsavers Plate, kick off 2:30pm.