Cardiff RFC v Newport RFC – 2nd April 2026 by John Evans
It was a perfect Thursday evening for a game of rugby in Cardiff; the day had been without rain, and, with only a light breeze, the conditions were perfect. Both teams revelled in playing fast, wide rugby, so it made for an entertaining evening’s viewing for both spectators and viewers to S4C’s live stream of the game. What S4C’s audience would have missed out on, though, was the plunging temperatures after dark to remind us that, even though we’re on British Summer Time, it isn’t Summer yet!
Newport were forced into two very late changes to the starting fifteen; Oli Andrew was stood down for Chay Foster-Smith, while Lloyd Lewis was an extremely late withdrawal, Ollie Woodman donning the ‘14’ shirt in his absence. Noah Morgan filled the vacant bench position.
Cardiff outside half Harri Wilde got the game underway with Newport attacking the ‘City’ end of the ground. Home wing Dewi Cross was first to the ball, but fumbled it, ensuring a Newport scrum over the centre spot. The visiting pack demonstrated their dominance from the outset, easing the Cardiff eight backwards allowing Dafydd Buckland to break. Cardiff initially defended well, but Newport got to work. With a penalty awarded, Carwyn Penny kicked to the corner. The catch and rolling maul were completed, Henry Palmer worked hard to get into position, looking for half-gaps before Hunter Ward crowbarred his way through the gap that Palmer had prised open. Carwyn Penny added the conversion to make it Cardiff 0 Newport 7 with 4 minutes gone.
Cardiff responded in kind just 3 minutes later. The Blue and Blacks challenged Newport, interpassing well. Hooker Alun Rees was a vital link in getting the ball to lively wing Tom Bowen whose turn of speed foxed the Newport defence before popping the ball infield to flanker Benjamin Fry. A little juggle of the ball, and Fry touched down. Harri Wilde added the two-pointer to equalise the scores at 7 points each.
Hunter Ward easily robbed Cardiff flanker Sonny McCabe of the ball to launch a Newport attack, but Harri Ackerman was isolated by the Cardiff defence and yielded a penalty.
The Black & Ambers solid scrum ensured a stable platform to attack off; a pass out to Harri Ackerman saw the big man scythe through the Cardiff defence before Ollie Woodman popped up in support. He sprinted on before being tackled near the Cardiff 22, but the Newport back row were, as usual, omnipresent, spiriting the ball away. Newport kept hitting the ball up, but a beautifully timed run by Hunter Ward, onto a hard, flat pass, burst open the Cardiff defensive line and, with a final jink around fullback Matty Young, Hunter Ward was over to score. Carwyn Penny added the extras to make it Cardiff 7 Newport 14 with 12 minutes played. Unfortunately, Ollie Woodman was injured in the tackle and was forced to retire for the evening, Noah Morgan taking his place.
Newport were penalised for a 21st minute off-the-ball incident which allowed Cardiff a kick to 21-metres out. The lineout was overthrown, Henry Palmer popping up with the ball before passing onto Harri Ackerman. He looked for gaps, but with none appearing, Carwyn Penny placed a tactical kick, but Tom Bowen secured possession for Cardiff. The ball went wide, quickly, to Dewi Cross but he was tackled into touch. Unfortunately, Newport invited pressure onto themselves with a silly act of throwing the ball away to ensure a quick throw couldn’t be taken. Another penalty was issued against the Black & Ambers but, luckily for Newport, the throw was again too long, and the lines were cleared with a relieving kick.
Newport were pinged again from a Cardiff lineout; Harri Wilde went to the corner and the rolling maul looked menacing. Benjamin Fry transferred the ball to Alun Rees, but it was Fry that broke, Carwyn Penny wrapping him up and getting under the ball to stop the try. However, the referee spotted something that he wasn’t keen on and dispatched Hunter Ward to the naughty step. Cardiff reset the lineout, the maul was good and Benjamin Fry wasn’t to be denied this time. However, in a moment of indiscipline, as he jogged back, Fry threw the ball at the back of Carwyn Penny’s head. The referee spotted this and, following Wilde’s missed conversion, the game restarted with a penalty to Newport from the centre spot.
Carwyn Penny’s kick went long and placed Newport 10-metres from the Cardiff line. Josh Skinner took the lineout catch, the maul rocked and rolled, Chay Foster-Smith added his frame to the mass of bodies before Henry Palmer broke right but was held up, forcing a Cardiff goal-line restart. Morgan Williams ran the ball back at Cardiff, Newport battling hard to keep momentum going forward, but Cardiff strayed offside. Carwyn Penny took the shot at goal, approximately 30-metres out and straight in front to make it Cardiff 12 Newport 17 with 25 minutes played.
This was high octane stuff.
Cardiff were back bothering the scoreboard operator on 29 minutes when Tom Bowen scored a well-worked try. From a lineout, Cardiff spread the play. Good, accurate interpassing kept the Newport defence on its toes, but a ball whipped out to Bowen outflanked the Black & Amber jerseys and, with a lightning turn of pace, Bowen was over in the corner. The conversion was missed, so the score now was equal at Cardiff 17 Newport 17.
It was developing into a hugely entertaining game, unlike the thudfest that was Bridgend at home last time out. Both teams looked to run, and a set play from a line out where Ben Roach passed the ball down to Henry Palmer, who moved it on to Dafydd Buckland before Joe Westwood ploughed a wide furrow up the middle of the park looked to unlock the home defence, but the Blue and Black shirts arrived in numbers. A knock-on coughed the ball up Cardiff’s way, but a wide pass out to Tom Bowen was much too high for the diminutive winger and everyone, crowd included, could take a breath.
The Newport scrum was immense, Dragons and Wales player Rhodri Jones, coming back to fitness, made a terrific impact, alongside our regulars in Henry Palmer and Ollie Drake, regularly having their opposite numbers on toast. A 36th minute scrum provided another opportunity when a tremendous heave garnered a penalty as the home pack splintered. Carwyn Penny gestured at the sticks and nailed the 42-metre kick, making it Cardiff 17 Newport 20.
The Black & Ambers were given offside again, allowing Cardiff to punt for the corner. However, the attack was less accurate on this occasion, the ball bobbling loose on the Newport 22. Morgan Williams scooped the ball up, took half a second to size up his options before running an arc around the bunched-up Cardiff defence. The Newport full back activated sprint mode reaching top speed quickly, but the corner-flagging Matty Young was in pursuit. With the line at his mercy, Morgan Williams was ankle tapped, spilling the ball just short of the line. From the Cardiff scrum, number 8 Aled Ward, possibly unwisely, chose to break and knocked on in Kyle Tayler’s tackle. Newport needed no second invitation, the big men like Rhodri Jones, Ollie Drake and Josh Skinner were queueing up to take a tilt at the Cardiff line, but the defence was admirable. Dafydd Buckland brought Harri Ackeman in on an angle, but he was held up over the tryline, bringing a pulsating first half to a close.
Half Time: Cardiff RFC 17 Newport RFC 20
Newport were unchanged for the start of the second half as Carwyn Penny got the game back underway. Second row, and captain, Craig Hudd, formerly of this parish, spilled the ball, but the referee spotted an infringement and awarded Cardiff a penalty. Harri Wilde kicked the Blue and Blacks to 21-metres out but, again, the lineout was overthrown. Henry Palmer emerged with the ball and Newport could kick clear. Cardiff were lively, looking to go wide again. Tom Bowen was a persistent nuisance to the Black & Amber defence, jinking infield before Dafydd Buckland downed him on the Newport 22. Harri Wilde put in a kick to the corner, but Morgan Williams could only touch the ball down. With a resultant Cardiff 5-metre scrum, their pack provided a stable-ish platform for the ball to get out to centre Steffan Emanuel whose blast down the 10/12 challenge was met with disappointingly weak tackling, and he was through to put Cardiff ahead. Harri Wilde added the conversion to make it Cardiff 24 Newport 20 with 44 minutes played.
Following a Cardiff knock-on, a beast of a Newport scrum saw Ben Roach break left. Dafydd Buckland found Carwyn Penny running alongside in the narrow channel, before play switched right. Carwyn Penny got himself back into a more usual position, and his half a second delay on a pass was perfect, putting Chay Foster-Smith in space to charge in for the try. Carwyn Penny converted to make it Cardiff 24 Newport 27 with 46 minutes played.
Cardiff equalised the scores just two minutes later when Newport were penalised for not rolling away, a curious decision as the player in question was lying parallel to the ball, rather than across. Nonetheless, Harri Wilde’s 45-metre kick was accurate, making it 27 points each.
Newport changed their front row on 51 minutes, Messrs. Jones, Palmer, and Drake made way for Harry Fry, Wade Langley, and Garin Harris.
Cardiff kept looking for opportunities; a fantastic kick completely foxed Morgan Williams and gave the home side a 50:22, just 8-metres from the Newport line. The lineout proved loose, Newport spoiling and disrupting, but Cardiff kept the move alive before a looping pass out to Dewi Cross unpicked the defence and the winger skated into the corner to score. The conversion was missed, so the score now was Cardiff 32 Newport 27 with 62 minutes played.
Harri Ackerman made way for Harrison James at this point, hopefully to provide Newport with another kicking option.
Dafydd Buckland’s towering kick was spilled by Tom Bowen, Kyle Tayler, who put in a fantastic performance, it must be said, was available to mop up. Newport went wide, Noah Morgan having a sprint with ball in hand, but the Black & Ambers had a penalty coming. Harrison James put Newport just 6-metres out. Hunter Ward caught the ball at the tail as the rolling maul set. Kyle Tayler and Wade Langley had a set of drives at the line before Cardiff conceded a penalty for a no-arms tackle. Newport opted to scrum, the change of personnel making little difference to the front row dominance, the ball going wide, but Joe Westwood was judged to have been held up over the line, but with another penalty advantage, Newport opted to scrum again. A free-kick was awarded as Cardiff failed to engage; Ben Roach tapped quickly, Cerrig Smith, freshly on for Callum Bradbury, was quickly involved, but Hunter Ward lost possession in the act of scoring and Cardiff could clear. After six whole minutes camped on the Cardiff line, and a string of penalties conceded, the lack of further sanction by the referee proved frustrating.
Cardiff found another top-drawer 50:22 on 72 minutes, Morgan Williams having little chance at preventing another good positional kick. The Cardiff line out was successful, but Newport disrupted the rolling maul. Cardiff were forced to play, but with no advantage coming, the referee brought play back, yellow carding Ben Roach in the process. This simply made the lack of sanction between minutes 62 and 68 even more inexplicable.
Ioan Rhys Davies replaced Kyle Tayler as Cardiff continued to attack, running from all angles, but the Newport defence battle with a renewed vigour, Rhys Cummings being penalised for not releasing the ball in a tackle. Still the waves of Blue and Black came, and they all crashed on the same Black & Amber rocks; a snipe by scrumhalf Ethan Lloyd had Matty Young on his shoulder, but a “crocodile roll” on a Newport defender let Newport off and they could kick clear.
Lucas Welch replaced Dafydd Buckland in stoppage time, but Newport were soon penalised again, this time for crossing. Harri Wilde slotted the three-point kick to take the game just beyond Newport’s reach. Cardiff 35 Newport 27 on 80+1 minutes.
Harry Fry and Wade Langley were willing carriers; there was still the possibility of gaining two league points from the game, with one more try keeping the score close. However, a tackle on Joe Westwood dislodged the ball and Cardiff had room, Rhys Cummings chipping Morgan Williams, but he was tackled short of the line, spilling forward in a similar fashion to Williams himself at the end of the first half.
With time running out, Cardiff simply had to keep the pressure on Newport to claim the win. A speculative kick by Rhys Cummings seemed a bit pointless at first, however, events would dictate what happened next. Josh Skinner. Let’s be clear, we bloody love Josh Skinner. He’s a warrior, a battler, and a Black & Amber; he’s one of us. He’s the first name on the team sheet in my head before every game, whether he’s fit or not. However, when Josh found himself on the wing, with the ball coming at him, he had to do something. With his toes balanced on the touchline, he elected to try and flick the ball back infield, knowing full well that the game was lost, but, if Newport scored etc etc. What he wouldn’t have known was that Matty Young was flying up, intercepted the flick and made it to the tryline with Lucas Welch trying in vain to manoeuvre him into touch. The conversion was missed making it Cardiff 40 Newport 27, giving the scoreline a lopsided look, in my opinion.
There was time to restart, but all Cardiff had to do was shepherd the ball off the field and it was job done for them.
Full Time: Cardiff RFC 40 Newport RFC 27
Newport are back in action next Thursday evening, when they host bottom of the table Pontypool RFC to Rodney Parade. Kick off will be at 7.30pm and will be streamed live on S4C’s Clic channel. Please remember that hospitality is available, ideal for groups of 8 or more. Please email Kevin Jarvis on commercial@newportrfc.co.uk for more information.
Onwards and upwards Newport.
Your City. Your Colours. Your Club
#cotp
Final Score – Cardiff RFC 40 Newport RFC 27
Seren y Gem – Hunter Ward