Newport High School Old Boys secured a historic win in their local derby against Usk RFC. With 15 tries scored and over 20 points kicked, last Saturday saw the Old Boys run away with a 97-8 victory at Yew Tree Lane.
Emyr James, Louie Pullen, Ethan Clayden and Shane Martin all scored multiple tries. While Peter Davies, Kellan Nicholls, Rhys Hunt, Tom Sparshott, Cai Hale and Elliot Dennison crossed the line for a try a piece, as well as captain Niall Martin securing 11 conversions.
Reflecting on the historic win, first team coach Andrew Screen said: “It was fantastic at the final whistle! My first thought, looking at the scoreboard was that this has to be a club record for a competitive fixture. It really did give me a sense of pride!
“It’s always nice to beat a local rival and to do it in such a fashion is even more pleasing. I know Usk were a squad depleted with injuries, but great credit to our lads they really did put them to the sword.”
Looking back on recent form, ‘Smokey’ continued: “We’ve been playing really well of late and the message all week was, we have to keep our standards high for the full 80 minutes.
“We focused on the fundamentals of basic rugby and told the boys to be clinical. As a coaching team we said that one team was gonna be on the back of a big defeat if we could put in a complete performance and that proved the case.”
Captain Niall Martin has also voiced his satisfaction with the team's progress: “I can’t remember ever being involved in a scoreline like that. The boys were buzzing in the changing rooms and the Clubhouse afterwards - the mood around the club has been building for several weeks now.
“We seem to have turned a corner since the Aberavon Green Stars win and the confidence, morale, performances and excitement throughout the team has just gotten better each week since. I think we showed that with the performance and obviously the scoreline last Saturday.
He continued: “I’m very proud to captain this special club and more specifically this group of boys, not just last Saturday but every weekend and in general. Scorelines like Saturday don’t come around very often, but it shows what we’re capable of, and the direction we are moving as a squad.
“The scoreline was incredible and surely perked a few ears up within our league but the most pleasing part of Saturday was how this tight group played for each other, kept to the game plan and executed it for the full 80. I’m a proud skipper!”
This weekend, Saturday 20th January, the Old Boys face Llanharan RFC at Yew Tree Lane in the quarter-final of the Cup. So it’s back to business for the team: “We have a huge cup quarter final Saturday so our focus has had to switch straight to that. So training this week will be intense as again there is a huge opportunity for the squad to create a little bit more history.” explains ‘Smokey’.
NHSOB captain Niall Martin echoes his coach, adding: “The feeling’s really good - full of positivity and excitement for the challenge this weekend. Keeping everyone level headed has been pretty easy as we’ve treated every game the same as the previous all season so business as usual this week.
“We’re aware Llanharan are coming to face us as current leaders or their league, but I have full confidence in this squad if we go out there and concentrate on our own performance as we have recently.”
#OldBoysOnTheUp
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