Sport
Scarlets’ late surge sees off Ospreys

Ospreys 14 – Scarlets 16
The Ospreys, playing as the official ‘home’ team at Parc y Scarlets, had led for the majority of a tense contest.
But with 71 minutes on the clock, a superb off-load from replacement Blade Thomson paved the way for full-back O’Brien to slice through and dive over for the crucial score.
Man of the match Dan Jones added the conversion to put the Scarlets in front for the first time and the West Walians were able to finish the match on the front foot to claim the annual festive bragging rights and a crucial win to keep them in the hunt in the Conference B standings.
O’Brien hadn’t been named in the original match-day 23, but was brought in at the 11th hour as a replacement for Johnny McNicholl.
In blustery conditions, Scarlets enjoyed the early pressure, but despite hammering away at the Ospreys line were unable to come away with any points.
Instead, it was the Ospreys who were first on the board after 14 minutes through the boot of fly-half Stephen Myler.
The opening quarter was proving a cagey affair with both sides unable to get any momentum going.
A moment of individual brilliance from scrum-half Reuben Morgan-Williams, who dummied and sprinted clear from 40 metres, extended the Ospreys’ lead on 22 minutes, but the Scarlets’ response was swift with Jones landing a penalty straight from the kick-off.
Jones hit the upright with another attempt, then a pin-point cross-field kick from Steff Hughes just evaded the grasp of wing Steff Evans with the line at his mercy.
A powerful scrum on the stroke of half-time led to a long-range penalty chance, but O’Brien’s strike drifted wide with the Ospreys going in ahead 8-3 at the break.
Myler extended his side’s lead early in the second half, but Jones kept Scarlets in it with his kicking out of hand and off the floor.
Two more penalties from the Carmarthen fly-half to one from Myler made it 14-9 going into the final 10 minutes.
Then the Scarlets struck.
With Thomson having a big impact off the bench, the back-rower plucked a ball out of the sky as the Scarlets surged forward. He was involved again soon after, producing a sublime pass to O’Brien who cut a great angle to the posts.
With only two points in it, the Scarlets showed their composure to make their way downfield and set up camp in ‘home’ territory for the final minutes, denying the Ospreys any chance to snatch the win.
Sport
Scarlets slay Dragons

Tries from man-of-the-match Sione Kalamafoni and replacement Sam Costelow, combined with the boot of Dan Jones ensured Glenn Delaney’s side made it a festive double to move them up to second in Conference B of the Guinness PRO14 standings.
The Scarlets weren’t at their free-flowing best and will be frustrated by the amount of handling errors and ill-discipline in their performance, but the winning run continues ahead of next week’s clash with Cardiff Blues in the Welsh capital.
Despite a rare dry night in Llanelli, the opening 40 minutes was littered with errors from both sides and it meant the game had little flow.
The Scarlets enjoyed plenty of possession and territory, but too often passes failed to go to hand.
It was the Dragons who were first on the scoreboard thanks to a penalty from the boot of ex-Scarlet Josh Lewis.
Wales lock Jake Ball limped off moments later with a knee injury to be replaced by Tevita Ratuva, while Wyn Jones, on his 100th appearance, also left the field for a head assessment.
The outstanding Kalamafoni made a powerful surge up the middle of the field to put the Scarlets on the offensive, but again a promising move broke down.
Dan Jones levelled matters on 29 minutes, then added another penalty on the stroke of half-time after a quick tap from Kieran Hardy.
The Scarlets continued to enjoy the better of play in the second period, but had to wait until 57 minutes for the game’s first try.
More pressure led to Gareth Davies being taken out off the ball and Dragons lock Matthew Screech being shown yellow by referee Nigel Owens.
Scarlets went for the corner instead of the shot at goal and a well-worked training move saw Kalamafoni charge across the whitewash for his first try in Scarlets colours, a score converted by Jones.
With former Scarlet Rhodri Williams adding a spark, Dragons looked for an immediate response, but a brilliant turnover from Ratuva snuffed out the threat.
Then in the final play, replacement Sam Costelow picked up a loose ball, sped through the gap and around the final defender for a superb solo score, with the Wales U20s fly-half adding the conversion for good measure.
After the hard-fought win, Scarlets coach Glenn Delaney said: “I suppose it was a compelling contest of a different nature. You saw a lot of kicking battles going on, neither team wanted to give the other counter-attacking opportunities.
“I thought defensively we were very resolute, I never felt we were in danger on our goal-line, it was a bit stop-start with a couple of drop balls, but I am delighted to get the win and we did create a bit more in the second half.
“With these derby games, I am learning every time we play one, they all seem to be pretty much like this and perhaps bring out the best and worst in us because of the individual competition and contest.
“We would have liked to have done a bit more with the ball and the attacking breakdown with us was poor, the Dragons turned over a bit of ball there so we need to be better in that area and make sure when we make the breaks we are able to capitalise.”
Sport
Wales Women building cohesion at start of big year

Cohesion was the focus for new Wales Women head coach Warren Abrahams during his first training camp of 2021.
Having been in post just over a month, Abrahams has spent time watching the Welsh performances in the Allianz Premier 15s and getting to know players and staff but the two-day camp was a welcome opportunity for quality face to face time with an enlarged training squad.
“We achieved our key aims on the weekend. The main thing was to learn more about the players. The more we understand them as individuals and as a team, that’s where we can make them better as players.
“The ultimate goal at the moment is to develop cohesion. We have to have the right people and make sure we work incredibly hard on those relationships between players and with management. Everything is tailored to making the team better and we also had some meaningful conversations around the legacy this team wants to leave for the next generation of Welsh women’s rugby and this team has to be the role model for that. That is a long-term goal.”
Abrahams is buoyed by what he’s seen so far. The vast majority of this training squad play in the Allianz Premiership and our players aren’t just making up the numbers. They’re putting down some big markers – just look at Kayleigh Powell and Hannah Jones who both earned a Player of the Match recently and Jaz Joyce who was Player of the Month for December. We’re really proud of how well our players are doing, it’s great for the programme and those experiences are just going to make them better.”
Siwan Lillicrap added, “It’s been nice to get together so soon in the New Year – the first step in a huge year ahead. The focus this weekend was on building a foundation and exploring what we’ve got as a squad.
“I think we absolutely achieved that, the relationships are developing along with a confidence in the squad . It’s been a tough, challenging camp but that’s what you want as we build towards the Six Nations and Rugby World Cup.”
Lillicrap welcomed the input of the new-look coaching team, former Wales captain and Colwyn Bay head coach Rachel Taylor coming in as national skills coach and former Ireland international and Penclawdd forwards coach Sophie Spence joining the set-up as Wales’ World Rugby coaching intern.
“Warren has been very inspirational for us already. It feels like he’s been in post much longer as we’ve done a lot of work on zoom already. It’s great to have Rachel on board. She’s a role model for many of us with what’s she’s done on the field as Wales captain and off it as a coach and Sophie too with her international experience and coaching knowledge.”
Training squad:
Forwards: Abbie Fleming, Alisha Butchers, Gwen Crabb, Georgia Evans, Cerys Hale, Cara Hope, Molly Kelly, Natalia John, Manon Johnes, Kelsey Jones, Beth Lewis, Siwan Lillicrap, Robyn Lock, Shona Powell-Hughes, Donna Rose, Caryl Thomas, Meg Webb, Teleri Wyn Davies
Backs: Alecs Donovan, Beth Huntley, Bryonie King, Courtney Keight, Jade Knight, Caitlin Lewis, Lisa Neumann, Hannah Jones, Jasmine Joyce, Kayleigh Powell, Paige Randall, Jess Roberts, Gemma Rowland, Lauren Smyth, Elinor Snowsill, Robyn Wilkins, Flo Williams
News
Bacon Butties and coffee fuelled construction of Otter’s snack bar

THE WET weather pre-Christmas has affected the progress on the Narberth OTTERS new Snack Bar, but the plucky band of volunteers and some suppliers have rallied around in between the storms to do some of the essential work, prior to making the building fully weathertight.
In November Committee Man Macphee, chief recruiter of volunteer labour , press ganged the club Chairman Robert Lewis in to service. Rob used to be a class act wearing No 14 playing on the wing for the Otters. On this occasion Mac had him flying around the inside of the building fitting the insulation inside the walls of the timber frame. He was ably assisted by block layer Trevor Thomas alias “Tomcat” who on this occasion swapped his trowel for a saw and knife to cut the lightweight insulation panels. Kevin Pyne , all 6’4” of him, was useful in fitting the pieces in the top of the wall !
Bacon Butties and coffees were frequently sourced from the Spar minimarket by Architect Ken Morgan to keep the team replenished on cold and damp winters days. Ken commented: “I had the initial idea for transforming the way Burgers and snacks were made in a tiny hut. So I came up with the idea of creating a new purpose-built structure. I feel that supplying the volunteer who are helping in this objectives, and who give up their time so willingly, deserve a warm snack and a hot drink in such poor weather conditions” . The Chairman Rob Lewis is intending that the RFC will lay on a supper and alcoholic beverages for all sponsors, volunteers and financial donors when the project is finished. That will also include members of the local press who have given magnificent support in publicising the project.
During December Celtic Scaffold Solutions very kindly turned up to provide a scaffold around the perimeter of the building to give the volunteers safe access to work at height on the new roof. Proprietor Luke Morgan has donated his time and equipment entirely free of charge. The Rugby club is extremely grateful and proud of his sponsorship. This allowed Mac and John Evans alias “Jinko” to fit the heavy Roof Joists and the sloping fillet pieces, known in the trade as firring pieces using a nail gun supplied by builder Dorian Phillips. The timber joists were very kindly donated by Agricultural Buildings supplier John Morris.
Unfortunately, or to use the term favoured by the Prime Minister in these Covid times, – Alas, the plywood roof deck and weather-proof rubber membrane cannot be fitted until some dry weather arrives. It is hoped that won’t be too long coming.
In the meantime to finish off just before the Christmas Break, Mr Gareth Edwards of Whitland, proprietor of GNE windows and double glazing, turned up with his colleague Sid to fix all the external windows and door. Macphee said: “where would we be without the extreme generosity of such sponsors. Two windows were supplied by Merry Bros; The large corner window frames and glazing were supplied by GNE Windows and The external door and Frame were paid for by Committeeman and Youth Coach Mr Bill Ridge who was also an outstanding former player for the Otters”.
The Narberth RFC would welcome any further offers of financial help, materials donations or voluntary labour in order to move the project forward into the internal fitting out stage. It is hoped that by the Spring the building will be close to a finish ready for the start of a new Rugby Season. Let’s hope this works out.
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