THE inaugural Super 10s by the Sea at Aberystwyth RFC served as a great pre-season warm-up for three teams.
The tournament, held on Saturday, 13 August acted as the pre-cursor for the new season for Aberystwyth, who will again compete in the WRU Division One West.
Teams from Monmouth and Abergavenny joined the tournament and were supplemented by some reserve players from Tregaron.
Because of the heat the tournament was limited to just two games per team, playing 12-minute halves with scheduled water breaks after six minutes of each half.
The initial game was between Monmouth and Abergavenny, with Monmouth running out as convincing 40-0 winners.
The coaching staff of Abergavenny, including ex-Wales international Nathan Thomas, suggested that this may have been more to do with Abergavenny arriving in Aberystwyth the night before and allegedly taking full advantage of the nightlife rather than the obvious prowess of Monmouth!
The next game played, after a substantial 30-minute gap, was Aberystwyth against Monmouth.
Aberystwyth emerged as winners in a tightly contested game by 19-12. Tries came from strong running and breaks by Carwyn Evans, Matthew Hughes and Iwan Morris in a finely balanced match.
The final game, which many thought to be a foregone conclusion between Abergavenny and Aberystwyth, turned out to be a tough scrap.
Abergavenny, having got their second wind, fought like tigers but eventually went down by 17-26.
The two East Wales sides often seemed content to take contact whereas Aberystwyth always appeared to be trying to move the ball to space.
The scorers for Aberystwyth in the second match were Sion Evans, Dylan Benjamin, who dotted down twice, and Iwan Morris.
Benjamin was nominated as player of the tournament and Aberystwyth emerged as victors in this inaugural tournament.
Everyone who turned up to enjoy the afternoon’s entertainment commented how the event served as a great pre-season warm-up for the full 15-a-side season, and that it should find a regular place in the pre-season calendar.
Aberystwyth coach Ifan Thomas, reflecting after the tournament came to a close, said: “This provides a great opportunity for some fast, open-running rugby at the same time as allowing for the benefits of props and second-rows. This would not normally occur with the seven-a-side version of the game.”
The next game scheduled for Aberystwyth at Plascrug will kick-off at 7.30pm on Wednesday, 24 August against Bala.
Aber’s league campaign gets underway on Saturday, 3 September at home to Penclawdd.