Year 7 make great progress.

Gowerton’s year 7 team travelled to play in the Ospreys regional festival at Bishop Gore’s Sketty Lane playing fields.

There were 8 schools involved Birchgrove, Bryntawe, Cefn Hengoed, Morriston, Pontarddulais, Ystalyfera along with Gowerton joining hosts Bishop Gore.

The objective of the festival was to broaden the accessibility of rugby to pupils in schools with games being competitive but with the prime aim being to involve as many youngsters as possible in playing.

The competitive nature of the games encourages players to develop team skills but with no overall winner at the end of the festival, personal involvement and development rather than winning is the primary motivation.

In their first game, Gowerton played Morriston and in the first half of the game they looked the stronger team with the front row of Coby Stuart, Dogukan Yildirim and Jake Brophy all carrying strongly, but Morriston’s defensive effort was excellent and Gowerton were unable to turn their pressure into points.

With confidence boosted by their strong defensive efforts and with Gowerton’s forwards tiring Morriston took control of possession allowing their pacier backs the opportunity to show their skills. They didn’t disappoint with impressive centre Noah Russell and wings Cameron McGrowther and Logan Black all dotting down for tries that earned their side a 15-0 win.

In their second game, Gowerton played Pontarddulais and with their opponents having defeated Morriston, Gowerton knew they would need to raise their game significantly if they were going to come out on top. They did so, and with fly half and captain Sam John leading from the front they took the game to Pontarddulais. Back row forwards Tristan John and Rhodri Davies tackled strongly and scrum half Charlie Steadman’s sniping bursts around the fringes of the breakdown regularly got them on the front foot.

Gowerton took the lead when good interplay between fly half John and centre Rhys Craven released centre Finn Sutton on halfway, he showed a fine combination of pace and power to sprint clear of the initial defence and then hold off the cover defence to score.

The game swung from end to end and Pontarddulais, who were well served by wing Logan Golding equalised with a fine team try of their own.

However, Gowerton had the final word when strong work from hooker Ellis Williams and No.8 Harvey Thomas allowed wing Franky Rees to score in the corner to give his side victory.

Gowerton saved their best until last, and with their opponents, hosts Bishop Gore having defeated both Morriston and Pontarddulais they knew they had to be on top of their game if they were going to gain a second win.

Gowerton maintained the improvement evident in their second game. Fly half John was again to the fore and with their joint players of the tournament flanker Rhodri Davies carrying strongly and wing Ella Williams a constant threat with her elusive running they came out on top 15-5 with centre Finn Sutton, wing Franky Rees and No.8 Harvey Thomas all crossing. In reply, the hosts’ powerful No.8 Ben Huxtable, who impressed throughout the tournament with his strong running, scored a deserved try.

                  The Gowerton year 7 team:

Back from left: Rhys Craven, Tristan John, Finn Sutton, Dogukan Yildirim, Coby Stuart, Ella Williams, Joseph Wright, Ellis Williams.

Front from left: Charlie Steadman, Sam John (captain), Harvey Thomas, Jake Brophy, Franky Rees, Rhodri Davies

At the end of the festival, all schools had had the opportunity to involve a significant number of youngsters and were grateful to Bishop Gore for their organisation of the event.