Pontypool RFC travelled to St Helen's last Sunday to play Swansea RFC.

Pooler captain Ben Parry said:

We were all looking forward to playing live on TV for the Swansea game and the opportunity to showcase the talent that we have in the squad and to show that we are capable of playing some good rugby. Travelling to Swansea, we always knew it was going to be a tough game so the first twenty minutes would be crucial.

We started really well with Marc Thorley scoring an early try which got us a foothold in the game. The conditions were very windy and saw us playing into the wind in the first half but in fairness to Swansea they played a really good, tactical game. Every time they turned the ball over, we found ourselves back in the 22 with a good kicking display by them. Swansea’s forwards have been pretty much dominating every pack they’ve played against. For us to go there and dominate a lot of the scrums and with some good strong, driving lineouts shows that the hard work put in is paying off. Towards the end some ill discipline let us down and this resulted in Swansea snatching the victory out of our hands in the closing stages. Final score Swansea 22- Pontypool 13

We know that the next two games are crucial and that we need to get back to winning ways. We as a group took a lot of confidence from that game knowing that if we keep our discipline and play to our strengths we can beat any side in the league. Lastly thanks again for your support at Swansea I know that the last two weeks has been frustrating but there is still a lot of rugby left to be played and we are by no means out of the race so please stick by us as I know you will.