Cardiff Quins RFC collected the SWALEC Division 3 South East trophy last night after their 32 – 27 home win against Wattstown RFC.
The Quins carried off the SWALEC Division 3 South East title in what is only their second season in the division. Their nearest rivals, Wattstown RFC, were 16 points adrift from the Quins going into their head-to-head at The Diamond Ground. It was the Quins who got the spoils in a thrilling encounter, which was also watched by Cardiff Blues fly-half Rhys Patchell who was brought through the youth system at Cardiff Quins.
The Whitchurch-based side were promoted from Division 4 South West in the 2011-12 season. Despite finishing mid-table in their first season, they have upped the ante according to their coaching staff during this current campaign. Collectively the team has scored 106 tries throughout the season with winger Dafydd Franklin boasting an impressive tally of 30 before their mid-week fixture against Wattstown and adding another in the latest match.
Coach Andrew Price admits that it was a tight contest against their league rivals but that the Quins’ fitness enabled them to fight back and later hold on for the victory.
“Wattstown are not second in the league for no reason,” said Andrew Price. “They are a hard Valleys side and they came down this evening and wanted to spoil the party for us. They got stuck in and in the end it was a hard fought game. But I think it was a fair result in the end.”
Mr Price added: “We’ve stuck to playing nice attractive rugby and come up against decent sides in doing so. Winning two promotions in three years is proof that the youth and junior structures at our club work and many of them come through to play for our first team.”
Cardiff Quins RFC Captain and hooker Steff Ellis said: “It’s been a really positive season – we’ve trained hard and played well against really good teams. We got on to a good run and a string of good performances so we feel like we’ve got our just desserts.
The speed we play and our fitness gave us the edge against the opposition, especially in the final quarter of games. Last season was a wake-up call for the boys in a new division so this year we’ve all - coaches, backroom staff and players - put the work in and got our reward.
“We’ve got a lot of youth in our team and in turn that produces a lot of energy. We understand each other’s games because a lot of us have played in the same group since school. Now we have a big pre-season ahead and we’ll train hard ready for the next challenge and playing against the best is what we want.
WRU Board Member Roy Giddings said: “To win the title with a number of matches in hand is a remarkable achievement in what is a very tough league. I’m pleased to present Cardiff Quins RFC with the SWALEC Division 3 South East trophy at the end of an exciting season.”
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