Llandovery College defeated Christ College 41-10 in the 129th meeting between the two historic rugby schools, marking their 90th victory in the 147-year-old fixture. A four-figure crowd, including former Llandoverian and X Factor runner-up Rhydian Roberts, witnessed a ferocious contest in which Llandovery's power and physicality up front proved decisive.
Physical dominance and early lead
Christ College aimed to run the ball from deep but never secured enough clean possession to counter the superior bulk of the Lilywhites pack, led by an eye-catching performance from No 8 Harvey Thomas. Llandovery's immensely powerful tight-head prop Ollie Tucker twice crashed through tackles for a brace of first-half tries, and hefty lock Harri Lewis added a close-range effort as Llandovery built a 19-3 half-time lead.
Talented skipper and full back Archie Lavington kicked an early penalty for Brecon, but his fellow backs, including livewire centre Jack Williams, had to live off scraps and risk handling from too deep.
Brecon's best try and coach's response
The Breconians scored the best try of the game when fly half Bowen Thomas, son of former Llandovery coach Nathan, countered from his own 22. A sweeping multi-phase attack of quick hands and straight lines ended with centre Raith Scannell going over under the posts. It was their only try of the day, with much of their time spent defending against the big ball-carrying Llandovery forwards and hard-running backs like skipper and thrusting centre Cole Inker.
Brecon coach Dan Parry was far from downbeat at the result. "In a very competitive game, the score did not reflect how close a physical contest the game was," he said. "Our boys showed real bravery to go toe to toe with a much bigger team and held our own for many aspects of the game. We have a bright future ahead with this team, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the remainder of the season holds for us."
Second-half red cards and late tries
Two red cards, one to Harri Lewis and one to Brecon flanker Henry Davies, followed a second-half brawl, prompting historians to search records for any previous double sending off in the fixture. Scannell's converted try gave the visitors a glimmer of hope, but scrum half Reuben Slade-Jones sniped through for a fourth Llandovery try, and the result was never in doubt.
The ever-willing Brecon pack, led by hard-working No 8 Matthew Williams and lock Tom Langley, never stopped running and harassing, nearly fashioning a close-range try of their own. Replacement wing Charlie Eatly, scrum half Tomas Fallon, and centre James Dyas-Szulik all crossed to pull the Lilywhites clear. New Llandovery coach Chris Rooke, who has taken over from Nathan Thomas, acknowledged the edge his forwards enjoyed: "The final score might have been a bit flattering in our favour but I thought we had control in most areas of the game. Our forwards turned the screw in the second half and our replacements injected a lot of life in the open but full marks to Brecon who made us fight for everything."
