Griffiths guides Swansea to victory

A Ianto Griffiths-inspired Swansea University team saw the Green and White Army dig deep to kick-off their BUCS campaign with a fiercely contested 25-19 win over Cardiff Met at Cyncoed.

Outside half Griffiths put in an assured shift bagging 15 points for the visitors through a try, two conversions, a penalty and a drop goal.

Cardiff Met made 12 changes to the team that ran One East champions Ebbw Vale close on Saturday, not that it showed, with both sides quick out of the blocks with the ruck area being ferociously contested.

The hosts had much of the early ball but an opportunist charge down saw hooker Martyn Beddows regather in midfield, as the front row man showed good pace before being pulled down five metres out. 

With the Met defence in disarray, Swansea recycled quickly for wing Jackson Szabo to scythe through to go over under the posts, leaving Griffiths with a simple kick to give the Green and Whites a 7-0 lead after five minutes.

Cardiff Met hit back immediately with fly half Oli Carter punishing Swansea’s indiscipline at the ruck with a great touchline penalty. The hosts then began to overpower their visitors upfront with some impressive scrummaging, driving Swansea backwards and putting them under increasing pressure at the set piece.

With the hosts in the ascendancy at the scrum, they also started to exert pressure at the breakdown with the referee singling out Swansea players time and again for technical infringements, and Carter made it tell as he fired home another penalty from half way.

The game was beginning to bubble over with a number of altercations off the ball, as the Swansea forwards battled to reassert their authority. After the sixth penalty against them at the ruck, centre Josh Bartlett was singled out for not rolling away and sent to the sidelines for ten minutes.

With the man advantage, the Cyncoed men began to turn the screw with a number of driving mauls that were just held short as Swansea desperately defended their line, back row Reuben Tucker was particularly instrumental in fending off wave after wave of attack.

Although the hosts had the majority of possession and territory, they failed to breach the white line with simple handling errors halting their progress. However, they did move into the lead just before the interval with Carter once again finding the target.

The second half was only a few minutes old before another charge-down swung the momentum back in the Green and Whites' favour, Griffiths closing his opposite number down before hacking on the charge-down to outpace the cover defence and cross in the corner.

Things went from bad to worse for Cardiff Met shortly after relinquishing their lead, as Lewis Williams was sinbinned for back chat to the referee. Swansea now looked the more threatening, extending their lead with another Griffiths penalty, while diminutive full back Elliott Jones looked threatening every time he received the ball.

However, they failed to really make the one man advantage count and Cardiff Met hit back through another Carter penalty and were soon back up to their full compliment, suddenly looking the stronger side again. The hosts went through phase after phase of play before Jon Howard showed incredible strength to bulldoze his way over out wide, Carter adding the extras from a seemingly impossible angle to lead 19-15.

With ten minutes remaining, the Green and Whites regrouped and a cute grubber kick from centre Ben Mitchell put the Cardiff Met back three under pressure, giving Swansea a lineout five metres out. The catch and drive came edging closer to the line with Tucker eventually crashing over the whitewash for a much deserved try, Griffiths duly slotting the conversion to give his side a narrow lead.

Swansea were now in control, with Griffiths in particular playing a territory game, pushing Cardiff Met back to make them attack from deep, before the outside half sealed the match with a wonderful drop goal from half way. As the ball sailed through the posts, so Cardiff Met’s heads dropped.

Cardiff Met will next turn their attention to the Swalec Championship, with Llanharan the visitors on Saturday, while Swansea once again travel to the capital next Wednesday to face off against bitter rivals Cardiff at Llanrumney.

STAR MAN-IANTO GRIFFITHS- SWANSEA UNI

Cardiff Met- Rhys Davies-Horne, Lewis Williams, Spencer Lunn, Jack Lavin, James Beal, Oli Carter, Matt Walsh, Will Norton, Jon Howard, Tim Weber, Nick Leach, Miles Normandale, Stuart Ridler, Jake Smith, Charlie Stevenson. Reps- Tom Emery, Jamie Tucker, Chris Boyle, Cameron Setter, Conor Truman, Nick Hodgson

Tries: J Howard 67; Cons: O Carter 68; Pens: O Carter 5, 16, 37, 60.

Swansea University- Elliot Jones, Jackson Szabo, Josh Bartlett, Ben Mitchell, Andrew Claypole, Ianto Griffiths, George Hardy, Saman Rezapour, Martyn Beddows, Steffan Jones, Adam Scanlon, Jon Barley, James McWilliams-Grey, Jack Perkins, Reuben Tucker.

Tries: J Szabo 3, I Griffiths 45, R Tucker 73; Cons: I Griffiths 3, 74; Pens: I Griffiths 55; Drop Goal: I Griffiths 79.