Newport RFC v Swansea RFC – 25th April 2026 by John Evans
So, here we are, at the business end of the 2025-2026 season. When Newport last played Swansea, a back-to-back pair of games over the last weekend of September and first weekend of October, Newport were in a slump. A championship hangover, possibly. The Black & Ambers lost to a late penalty at home, going down 40-42, and were squarely beaten away at Dunvant, 24-14, failing to register a league point for the first time in several seasons. Obviously, Newport have fought back, but Swansea have improved immensely during this season and would, doubtless, give Newport a stern test.
Having a weekend off last weekend allowed some R&R amongst the squad, but the team had a familiar look to it; Kobi Rees earned a start at 7, Jac Lloyd was back from his day job to feature at 10 while, happily, Fin Baker has recovered from injury sufficiently to start off the bench.
It would be remiss to go any further without congratulating Swansea on their recent win in the Plate competition. They edged out RGC in an enthralling game and all of us at Newport RFC applaud their achievements and admire the progress that they have made this season.
The weather was superb; a light breeze and no more than 18 degrees was the forecast and, with an entire week without rain, a firm pitch promised lots of running rugby. It was indicative of the time of year that the sound of leather on willow could be heard pre-match as our friends at Newport Cricket Club were hosting a match themselves.
Jac Lloyd kicked off with Newport attacking the Cricket Club end of the Newport Stadium. Lloyd Lewis got a hand to the ball, knocking it backwards. Tom Devine carried the ball forward before Jac Lloyd probed the defence, but Newport were soon penalised at the ruck situation.
An outstanding shove informed the Swansea front row of what they were facing, but the ensuing penalty was wasted when the set play pass to Lloyd Lewis was forward and Newport were called back.
Newport conceded a penalty on 5 minutes for a careless ‘seatbelt’ tackle on fullback Matt Protheroe. Outside half Josh Phillips kicked to about 27 metres out, but Newport yielded again for hands in the ruck. Josh Phillips punted the Whites to the corner, but the resulting ‘line out not straight’ was a let off for Newport.
Lloyd Lewis opened the scoring for Newport on 8 minutes with a try worthy of any highlights reel; the Black & Ambers showed ambition to run out of defence. They went wide, Morgan Williams was well marshalled but made the ball available. Dafydd Buckland worked the ball out to Jac Lloyd, and his cross-kick was absolutely perfect in its accuracy. Lloyd Lewis caught the ball, sliced between two defenders, ran in, ran out, before the turbos kicked in and he outstripped the remaining defenders to cross between the posts, almost doing a roly-poly as he scored. Jac Lloyd kicked the straightforward conversion to make it Newport 7 Swansea 0.
Newport knocked on from the restart. Swansea went through the phases from the scrum, but the Newport defence dealt with it well, and a loose ball saw Kobi Rees snap it up. However, the referee, Mr Craig Evans, saw an offside by Newport, so Swansea could reset. Josh Phillips went to the corner, prompting his forwards to go through the phases again, but Phillips’ cross-kick was too strong. Yet again, Mr Evans had his left arm aloft signalling a Swansea penalty, but the ensuing lineout was snaffled by Callum Bradbury and Newport could clear.
The Black & Ambers looked impressive on 14 minutes with Dafydd Buckland and Jac Lloyd combining well to dictate play and bring runners onto them. Henry Palmer did well to keep the move alive at one point, but, for a few seconds, Swansea had no idea where the next runner was coming from. Unfortunately, a pass to Hunter Ward was unsympathetic and the lively loose forward couldn’t help but spill the ball.
Swansea attacked down the right but met stern Newport defence. Whites centre Jack Hoskins tried a kick through, but it was too strong and bounced dead. Unfortunately, Mr Evans spotted more Newport infringements affording Josh Phillips a chance to kick to the corner. The lineout completed, Swansea’s rolling maul rumbled forward before dropping to the ground. Mr Evans said that that was done illegally and Josh Skinner was the man that he waved the yellow card at. The Whites reset again but, as the rolling maul was being pushed towards touch, Mr Evans found something else that he didn’t like. He spoke with Henry Palmer and Ben Roach before allowing Swansea to try again. Once more, the rolling maul was set and Newport edged it away, only for Mr Evans to wave a yellow card at Tom Devine. With Newport down to 13, and Swansea being given another chance, flanker Callum Bowden’s try had an air of inevitability about it. Josh Phillips added the conversion to make the score Newport 7 Swansea 7 with 23 minutes played.
Even with two men light, Newport’s attacking spirit was undimmed. Callum Bradbury had a dabble forward with the ball before Joe Westwood carved a line through the defence. Henry Palmer was the link in attack before passing to Tom Hoppe, but an outrageous try-saving tackle on the bustling centre knocked the ball free with the line at his mercy.
Whites’ scrum half Matthew Aubrey fabricated a super kick from nothing that kept the pressure on the hosts, but Newport managed to find the answers to Swansea’s questions.
With Newport back to full strength, they looked to kick on; Lloyd Lewis danced along the touchline before being tackled. He popped the ball backwards, but Swansea’s Iwan Glynn seized on the opportunity before he was hit into touch by Jac Lloyd putting in the sort of tackle that a flanker would be pleased with.
The visitors were enjoying tons of pressure, but were struggling to make it count, a fact that may have had defence coach Chadd Mutyambizi purring.
As the half drew to a close, it was Newport getting on top; A massive scrum shove earned a penalty. Jac Lloyd kicked to the corner, Ben Roach climbed high before Joe Westwood, Garin Harris, Tom Devine, and Tom Hoppe all carried hard into contact before the ball spread wide, but Morgan Williams was judged to have a foot in touch as he crossed. All was not lost as Swansea number 8 Jacob Hopkins was pinged for hanging on to the ball as he tried to carry out of defence. From the lineout, Garin Harris repeated his hard carrying before Henry Palmer went desperately close. Carwyn Penny jinked his way to the line before Josh Skinner appeared to have crossed the line. However, it wasn’t abundantly clear to Mr Evans, so he blew for halftime.
Half Time: Newport RFC 7 Swansea RFC 7
Swansea restarted, encouraging Newport to run out of defence but Carwyn Penny found himself being hauled to touch around halfway. Unfortunately, Newport’s woes with discipline continued; a string of penalties found them back defending their own line; fortunately, second row Cai Arnold spilled the ball prompting Newport to run again, Carwyn Penny and Morgan Williams combining to get to their 10-metre line before Swansea were nabbed offside.
Newport’s frustration was beginning to show as a Swansea player made little attempt to roll away from a tackle, Mr Evans preferring to punish Newport for chopsing. It was clear that the Black & Ambers would need to cut out anything that Mr Evans objected too if they wanted to win, and, to be fair, the referee had set his stall out. Swansea, however, invited pressure onto themselves as the lineout was overthrown; Henry Palmer was the man on the spot to gather the ball, but Jac Lloyd’s high kick was slightly aimless and Whites wing Liam Lloyd, formerly of this parish, had little opposition as he called for the Mark.
Lloyd Lewis extended Newport’s lead on 51 minutes as he managed to find the half inch of grass that the intense Swansea defence hadn’t covered. Patient phase play saw Newport edge forward, Callum Bradbury and Josh Skinner making telling contributions, but it was the quick feet of Carwyn Penny that unlocked the impasse. A burst of pace, with Dafydd Buckland millimetres behind almost broke the deadlock, but with the Whites streaming back quickly, a quick ball out to Lloyd Lewis on the wing was the key. Jac Lloyd added the conversion to make it Newport 14 Swansea 7.
Wade Langley replaced Henry Palmer, while Kyle Tayler replaced Kobi Rees at this point.
Swansea were on the attack again and, once more, Newport did something to attract Mr Evans’ ire; Joe Westwood was judged to have deliberately knocked down the ball marking Newport’s third yellow card of the game. The penalty to the corner resulted in a solid rolling maul before Matthew Aubrey went left to put Josh Phillips in at the corner to equalise the scores at 14 points apiece on 57 minutes once he had converted his own try.
It was Swansea’s turn to spill the restart and good work from the Black & Ambers earned Newport a penalty. Rather than go to the corner, Jac Lloyd gestured to the sticks making the score Newport 17 Swansea 14 on 61 minutes.
Ty Morris made a slew of changes to the Newport team around this point. Ollie Drake and Tom Workman replaced Garin Harris and Tom Devine, while Brogan Leary and Fin Baker replaced Tom Hoppe and Lloyd Lewis respectively. Finally, Cerrig Smith replaced Callum Bradbury.
A powerful 63rd minute scrum set the tone as the new front row made their mark on their opposite numbers. Brogan Leary injected pace, Kyle Tayler was on his shoulder linking with Josh Skinner, but Newport lost the ball in contact. Swansea tried to emulate Newport’s attacking prowess, but the attempted switch between Liam Lloyd and centre Callum Carson was clumsy. Newport surged forward again, Ben Roach finding himself in space, but a superb ankle-tap downed him with just feet to go to the line.
Lucas Welch was the final replacement of the day, taking over from Dafydd Buckland, and he was soon in the news; an outrageous scrum had Swansea skating backwards on their own put-in, the ball popping up between Ben Roach’s ankles allowing the scrum half to gather and drop over the line to score. Jac Lloyd added the conversion to make it Newport 24 Swansea 14 on 71 minutes.
Cerrig Smith got a crucial hand to a Swansea lineout, Joe Westwood brought Morgan Williams onto the ball. Possession remained alive until the ball was booted to the corner. Newport worked hard to regain the ball, going through the phases, but Swansea did extraordinarily well to strip Cerrig Smith of possession over the line and the visitors could kick clear.
The Whites endeavoured to keep in touch with the Black & Ambers, but a pop pass to second row Matt Dodd cannoned off the big man’s chest and Newport were away.
Into added time, Ieuan Cornelius, the replacement Whites’ back, was held up by a phalanx of Black & Ambers, gaining possession. Another powerful scrum and Lucas Welch made an outstanding flip to Hunter Ward. Kyle Tayler linked well but Brogan Leary was the difference as he glided in to score. Jac Lloyd added the two-pointer to make it Newport 31 Swansea 14 on 80+5 minutes.
From the restart, Newport sniffed an opportunity; the free-running backs went left and instantly found space, Morgan Williams gliding towards, then stepping around, the Swansea fullback to score and seal the win. Jac Lloyd did the business to make it Newport 38 Swansea 14 on 80+6 minutes.
Replacement scrum half Iwan Temblett added a late try for the Whites, emphasising their unwillingness to go quietly, Josh Phillips making the final score Newport 38 Swansea 21.
As a final note, our volunteers reported that the Swansea RFC replacement’s area at pitchside was absolutely clear at final whistle, and there wasn’t one item that needed to be cleared away. A class attitude from a class club. Our thanks to them on behalf of our volunteers.
Full Time: Newport RFC 38 Swansea RFC 21
Newport RFC move on to the Super Rygbi Cymru Trophy semi-final. We face our old friends Ebbw Vale RFC next Sunday, May 3rd, up at Eugene Cross Park. Kick off is at 1715 and may be shown live on S4C.
Onwards and upwards Newport.
Your City. Your Colours. Your Club
#cotp
Final Score – Newport RFC 38 Swansea RFC 21
Seren y Gem – Lloyd Lewis