Romp for Newport

WHEN the referee blows for full time before 40 minutes of the second half have been played it is clear that there has been a mismatch.

Hugh Watkins clearly had some sympathy for Swansea when he decided enough was enough with the score at 65-21 after Jason Tovey had crossed for an eighth try.

Gavin Henson was not plying his trade for the All Whites after seeing his two-match ban ripped up but while the golden boy of Welsh rugby was on the bench for the Ospreys, Newport produced a platinum performance at the Parade.

They may have been denied 30 seconds of action by the early whistle but no Newport supporter will have complained about being short-changed.

The gulf in class was evident from the off and the hosts had secured a four-try bonus point after just 34 minutes. In fact, the visitors failed to make it into the Newport 22 in the first half.

Injury-hit Swansea were disjointed, but that doesn’t diminish the excellence of the hosts’ performance.

The pack had a field day not only with the strength of their running but with some sublime off-loading while the midfield partnership between the excellent Scott Williams and Tom Riley continues to develop.

“We are very hard on ourselves and we just want to keep raising the bar,” said skipper Andrew Coombs after the game.

“We have played some really good rugby this season, especially at home, but we are not going to go over the top. We will keep our feet on the ground and keep working hard in every training session.

“The season has gone well so far but we just need to keep rolling along. The boys are all in the ice baths ready and will be ready to go at training on Tuesday.”

Swansea had actually opened the scoring through the boot of winger Nicky Thomas on three minutes but then fly-half Dan Griffiths got the Newport score ticking along with a seventh-minute try.

A neat interchange in the Swansea 22 by Riley and Williams from stolen line-out ball allowed Griffiths to cross before he added the first of his eight conversions.

Thomas booted his second three-pointer before the hosts were awarded a penalty try when their dominant scrum was illegally prevented from rumbling all the way over from five yards.

Though Thomas kicked another penalty, the Newport machine kept going with a try by winger Paul Jones on 29 minutes, who came off his wing to cross untouched from a set move that kept Swansea eyes focused on midfield runners.

It was quickly followed by a score by hooker Andrew Brown from close-range after a 50-yard attack involving Williams, Tom Isaacs and Jason Tovey from turnover ball won by number eight Coombs.

Swansea had clearly been given the hairdryer treatment at the break and showed more attacking intent in the opening two minutes of the second half than they had in all of the first 40.

But it was soon back to the same pattern and Williams crossed for a well-deserved try on 53 minutes after Coombs picked up from the base of a scrum that was about to go through 90 degrees and popped the ball up to his powerful inside centre.

Former Newport back rower Marc Popham saw yellow after failing to keep his mouth in check but it didn’t harm his side, who crossed for their first try through Thomas who hit the line a speed to go over before converting.

That just served to put fire back in the bellies of the Newport players and scrum-half Isaacs benefited from being on the shoulder of Richard Dale after the replacement back-row forward carried with both power and quick feet.

Livewire flanker Craig Hill produced a neat one-two with hooker Mike Leaman to cross and though Thomas went over to take his personal tally to 21 it was Newport who had the final word when Tovey jinked over without a hand being laid upon him.

Newport won’t be able to make every afternoon look as easy as Saturday but after champions Neath suffered another blip, the Black and Ambers are sure to be eyeing the Premiership trophy.

Newport: J Tovey, P Jones (M Pizey 64), T Riley (N Williams 68), S Williams, M Poole , D Griffiths, T Isaacs (A Quick 68), I Evans (D Pattison 70), A Brown (M Leaman 70), A Murphy, A Jones (M Workman 57), M Amos, D McShane, C Hill, A Coombs (captain, R Dale 64).

Scorers: tries - Griffiths, penalty, Jones, Brown, S Williams, Isaacs, C Hill, J Tovey; conv - Griffiths (8); pens - Griffiths (3) Swansea: J Lewis, N Thomas, R Payne (C Shelmerdine 64), J Stuart (captain), L Bevan, D Watts, P Tucker, T Evans (N Jones 64), A Davies (D Littlehales 64), D Matthews, G Ronan, R Kelly, S Kiley, S Jones, M Popham.

Scorers: tries - N Thomas (2); conv - N Thomas; penalties - N Thomas (3) Referee: Hugh Watkins (WRU) Argus Star man: Scott Williams