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 Last weekend saw Hirwaun take a break from WRU National League 3 East Central C duties, travelling down to the capital to face the high flying students of Cardiff Met who were fresh off 50 point demolition of Risca 2nds. After a disappointing 17-11 lacklustre defeat at home to Llanrumney last weekend, Hirwaun were looking to bounce back with a much improved all round team performance.

After #changingroomgate was resolved and the shock of having to pay for parking! The referee got the game under way a little after 3.05pm with both sides looking to get the upper hand. Some audacious passing from the Cardiff Met forwards threatened to spread the Brocks defence early on however Hirwaun were more than a match in defence. It wasn’t long before Rhys Stone had his first victim. The students’ open side flanker made the mistake of running directly into Stone’s shoulder, only to be aided off the field within the first 5 minutes. I haven’t seen anyone hit that hard since Bunny smashed Lewys Blayney in preseason.

Both sides continued to press, with Cardiff Met looking to play an expansive game sending dummy runners left right and centre. Eventually the Students backline broke free only to be stopped illegally at the breakdown. It wasn’t until the 12th minute, Cardiff Met managed to break the stalemate with a penalty from in front the of posts 3-0 to the home side.

Great individual play from the Cardiff Hooker and mesmerising dummy running by the Cardiff Met inside centre drew in the Hirwaun defence (at the cost of another thunderous hit by Rhys Stone) splitting Hirwaun defence and scoring a try in the corner making it 8-0 after 16 minutes.

It wasn’t long before Cardiff Met was back on the scoreboard. Tristian Owens, the human Pachycephalosauras, bravely attempted to stop an attacker with his swede only to come off second best. He was done for the day and Cardiff Met took a 15-0 lead.

Hirwaun hit back with some direct steamrolling running and started to exert their dominance at the set piece. Brandon ‘B-Dog’ Shaw and Jason Murphy in particular taking no prisoners relentlessly shoving the Student back off their own ball with captain Sean Forward racking up no fewer than 5 steals at scrum time. Frustrations grew amongst the Cardiff Met pack as they were marched back 10 metres for back chat, and again. It was when they were marched back for a 3rd consecutive time that the Hirwaun faithful began to question whether Dai Neck was actually working or was he playing for Cardiff Met? Showing clear dominance Hirwaun opted for a scrum inside their opposition 22 and could sense a way back into this game. I would be naive to suggest what happened next cost us the game but some crafty work by Cardiff Met’s scrumhalf (picking up the ball from the base of Hirwaun’s scrum) and mouth-watering running lines set Cardiff off for a breakaway try from 80+ metres, 22-0 to the home side.

What happened for the next 50 minutes was a combination of exceptional running rugby from Cardiff Met and resilient defence and power from the Brock’s set piece. With the perfect conditions on a 4g pitch there was only going to be one out come. Special mentions go to the Cardiff Met Hooker, Outside Half, Outside Centre and Full Back these are seriously talented players who will undoubtedly be playing Championship rugby before the year is out.

Final Score 76-0

The final score did not flatter the home side. They were seriously that clever, running angles rather than looking for contact. Exploiting mismatches too. There’s no question they could quite comfortably compete at Division 2 level if given league status. Hirwaun on the other hand should not be disheartened and can take many positives from this game. Gone was the bickering from the previous week. The set piece functioned extremely well. B-Dog loving life on the loose, Jason Murphy getting nasty at scrum time too. The back line defended admirably. Chewy loving life at Outside Half re-establishing a fatboy to the No 10 jersery. Our squad is growing bigger and stronger with notable first starts for Bryan Moreton, Gareth ‘Dent’ Howard and Tristan Owens too. But the most encouraging thing was the lads did not drop their heads. They continued to put in the big hits in defence, continued to dominate up front and showed the bollocks that I knew these boys have and one of the reasons I’ve fallen in love with the club.

Unfortunately there’s no game this weekend. Sully Sports have notified us that they are unable to field a side this weekend. It’s really sad to see especially as we were in a similar position not too long ago. Hopefully they’re be able to overcome these tough times and we look forward to rearranging the fixture in the future.

Credit goes to Brandon ‘B-Dog’ Shaw, Jason Murphy and Ashley ‘Bash’ Moss for permitting to National League 3 East A side Abertysswg Falcons. They travel to Machen, who are fresh off a 113-0 thumping of Cardiff Internationals last week. Play like you’ve played so far this season and you’ll do no wrong. All the best lads! Anyone wishing to go down and support the boys, Machen’s ground can be found off Tyn y Waun Road, CF83 8LA.

Post Game Clubhouse – Much has changed since the good old days. Gone has the stench of piss and sick, replaced with an ambience more accustomed to an upmarket wine bar than a student union. Add to that an abundance of chinos and ¾ zip tops revealing vast array of perfectly executed Windsor knots, it was safe to say the Brocks certainly did not get the memo regarding the dress code. Perhaps it is time to unveil our stylish new post-match Hirwaun 2018 edition tie.

Food – Pasta with a sprinkle of chicken. If you were really lucky, a cheeky meatball may have snuck on your plate too. The local Premier shop nearby must have made a killing on the way home.

Beer – Pravha Pilsner on drought for Less than £3 a pint - I think it’s time to re-enrol for another course.

Hirwaun RFC – Starting XV 1. Brandon ‘B-Dog’ Shaw 2. Sean Forward © 3. Jason Murphy 4. Bryan Moreton 5. Calum Rossiter 6. Michael ‘Spike’ Law 7. Lewys Blayney 8. Luke ‘Bubbles’ Read-Jones 9. Rhys Coxley 10. Shane ‘Chewy’ Jones 11. Michael ‘Gosha’ Bailey 12. Rhys Stone 13. Jarad Lee Williams 14. Gareth ‘Dent’ Howard 15. Tristan Owens Subs From: Matt Price, Morgan ‘Stumpy’ Siddley, Richard Truman, Daryl Hayton, Jay Smart

Other Scores:

Brackla 23 - 30 Neath
Cardiff Saracens 19 - 0 Risca 2nds (Abandoned after 41 mins - Injury)
Ferndale 24 - 26 Tonyrefail
Llandrindod Wells 10 - 84 Fairwater
Machen 113 - 0 CAICS
Sully Sports P - P Univ of South Wales 
Treharris P - P Llanrumney
Whitchurch 15 - 28 Caerau Ely