Swansea were worthy winners, scoring 4 tries to claim a bonus point and boost their Premiership survival hopes considerably. Despite a valiant effort, Ebbw were uncharacteristically off the pace and struggled to combat the Whites’ driving maul. Scores came from Stefan Thomas who finished a slick handling move to run in from half way, and Lloyd Evans who collected the ball 60m out when Ebbw out-powered a Swansea scrum, and outpaced the defence. Rhys Jones converted the first. It was 12-10 to Ebbw at half time, a scoreline that didn’t represent Swansea’s dominance of possession or territory. Ebbw took control after the break and looked to have scored, only for the referee to judge that Joe Franchi had lost the ball forward over the line. Ebbw’s only reward was a Rhys Jones penalty that made it 15-10. Having realised that Ebbw’s defence would not be battered or stretched, Swansea opted for kick and chase tactics, highly effective on the firm yet slick surface. Their three tries took them well clear of the Steelmen and brought them a crucial win.
Ebbw will need to regroup before visiting Cross Keys, another club fighting to avoid the drop. The team was:

15 Dan Haymond
14 Steff Thomas
13 Paul King
12 Dom Franchi
11 Toby Fricker
10 Rhys Jones
9 Dai Jones
8 Lewis Young
7 Lloyd Evans
6 Cameron Regan
5 Ashley Sweet (c)
4 Rhys Clarke
3 Rob Sevenoaks
2 Joe Franchi
1 Ross Jones

16 Rhys Francis
17 Mike Hutchings
18 Carl Sully
19 Kristian Parker
20 Owen Young
21 Matthew Flanagan
22 Dai Langdon
23 James Lewis

Many thanks to Pill Harriers and Rogerstone for agreeing permits.