Newport RFC v Aberavon RFC – 13th December 2025 by John Evans
The Wizards of Aberavon RFC were next up at Newport Stadium. It was hoped that the narrow defeat to Llandovery was but a glitch in the club’s on-field progress this season. Aberavon had turned Newport over at the Talbot Athletic Ground this season, so it was an opportunity to set the record straight.
Harri Ackerman, the powerful blockbuster of a centre, was welcomed back at the expense of Harrison James, who would make a mark off the bench later in the game.
Henry Palmer led Newport onto the pitch, marking his 200th appearance for Newport RFC. Llongyfarchiadau, Henry, that’s quite an accomplishment! The conditions appeared good for rugby, dry, bright, the going firm, but there was a deceptively strong breeze swilling around Newport Stadium.
Long winter shadows cast over the pitch as Carwyn Penny got the game underway. Aberavon kick returned, Hunter Ward carried back into the belly of the Wizards defence, but an onward pass was spilled leading to a scrum to the visitors. Aberavon spilled a pass themselves as they tried to create an opening, Harri Ackerman hacking through, but the big man was judged offside. Aberavon went for touch, but Newport nicked their lineout ball. Chay Foster-Smith was held up before Dafydd Buckland’s attempted clearance was held up on the breeze, Wizards captain Ashton Evans claiming possession. He powered forward, ominously, tempting the Black & Ambers to stray offside. The Wizards went to the corner again, but wily Ben Roach was ready and waiting for the throw and Newport were clear.
Aberavon conceded a penalty for hands in the ruck on 10 minutes. Harri Ackerman needed about four red and black jerseys to bring him down. Newport built their attack nicely, Carwyn Penny using his footwork to deceive defenders before allowing Harry Fry to biff up the middle of the park. Carwyn Penny popped and fizzed like a school science experiment, getting close to the line before Hunter Ward, the “Combat Wombat” as he has become known, sniffed an opportunity and, like the good 7 that he is, was on hand to take the pass and dot down over the line. That made the score Newport 5 Aberavon 0.
From the restart, Josh Skinner sought contact while Aberavon tried to flood the contact area, making life difficult for Dafydd Buckland. However, Carwyn Penny kicked the ball clear prompting Lloyd Lewis to chase, tackling Wizards fullback Scott Delnevo into touch. Newport knocked on, subsequently, allowing Aberavon to attack again. Ashton Evans distributed the ball, going through the hands to pacy wing Cori Lewis-Jenkins, but Lloyd Lewis had him lined up and tackled him into touch.
From an advancing scrum, and with a penalty advantage, Dafydd Buckland picked out Lloyd Lewis who set off on a characteristic run, jinking infield and leaving defenders grasping at shadows, but a pass onwards was fumbled. No issues, back for the penalty and Carwyn Penny placed Newport deep in the corner at the Cricket Club end. Callum Bradbury rose high for the lineout take; the rolling maul being floored suspiciously quickly. Henry Palmer ploughed on, gathering another penalty. That was quickly taken as Newport pounded the Aberavon defence before Ben Roach emerged from a melee with ball in hand to cross for a try near the posts. A bit of a dust-up ensued, but Carwyn Penny was unruffled and slotted the two-pointer easily to make it Newport 12 Aberavon 0 with 23 minutes played.
Harri Ackerman sliced through the defence making ground before moving the ball onward. Cori Lewis-Jenkins couldn’t resist thrusting a hand out to intercept, with predictable results; the referee, Mr Rhys Jones took a second to compute what he’d seen before showing the winger a red card, to the general hilarity of the crowd, before realising his error and changing it to a yellow. Carwyn Penny kicked Newport to the corner once more. Ben Roach provided the lineout ball, Henry Palmer carried hard before the ball went wide and a jink by Chay Foster-Smith gave him all the space he needed to cross and score Newport’s third try of the afternoon. That made the score Newport 17 Aberavon 0 on 27 minutes.
Newport’s dominant scrum was paying dividends, allowing the backs a “free play”. The ball went through the hands, but the last pass to Noah Morgan was too strong and the young man had to step into touch to gather it. Back for the penalty, and, following the lineout, Morgan Williams led the charge. However, an efficient counter-ruck by the Wizards nullified the attack. Thankfully for Newport, they only had the imagination to kick the ball back and let their opposition try again. The ball spun through the hands but a good tackle on Ben Roach forced the pass forward, and the Wizards could reset.
Aberavon kicked deep into Newport territory but didn’t bargain on Dafydd Buckland’s eye for a gap and Noah Morgan’s raw pace. The scrum half took a second to size up his options before breaking left from the maul. Noah Morgan and Dafydd Buckland exchanged passes for fully 80-metres, baffling the Wizards paper thin defence before a corner-flagger downed Dafydd Buckland on the line. A quick pop ball and Josh Reid cantered over unopposed for a terrific score. Carwyn Penny added the conversion, making it Newport 24 Aberavon 0 on 34 minutes and the try scoring bonus point in the bag.
The Wizards attacked, keeping the ball alive nicely, but some weak tackling let wing Felix Gilbert stride through to cross near the posts. Outside half Keilan Cullen’s kick struck the left hand post; I suppose when your luck is out, it’s really out. Newport 24 Aberavon 5 on 36 minutes.
Newport were on the rack a little in defence before a superb rip and turnover by Josh Reid killed an attack stone dead and Carwyn Penny could belt the ball clear.
Newport had a scrum in first half stoppage time. Ben Roach broke right, popped to Lloyd Lewis but the ball was lost and Mr Jones decided that he had seen enough for the time being as the players retreated to the changing rooms for halftime.
Half Time: Newport RFC 24 Aberavon RFC 5
Keilan Cullen restarted the game, wing Felix Gilbert holding Dafydd Buckland up and gaining possession. Aberavon set about attacking Newport but with no real cutting edge; Newport boxed them in fairly comfortably until Cori Lewis-Jenkins was pinged for holding onto the ball in the tackle, Carwyn Penny then punished them by kicking 22 to 22. Callum Bradbury took the lineout catch, Josh Reid soaked up the defence, Dafydd Buckland jinked in attack before finding Chay Foster-Smith on a beautiful angle, blazing through untouched near the sticks. Carwyn Penny added the extra two points to make it Newport 31 Aberavon 5.
Hunter Ward was withdrawn for Kyle Tayler just as Newport started to work the ball around, taunting the Aberavon defence before releasing Lloyd Lewis. He did his in/out running before striding through a tackle and scoring in the corner. Carwyn Penny’s conversion hit the uprights, making the score Newport 36 Aberavon 5 on 47 minutes.
The usual rotation of the front row took place on 49 minutes, Tom Workman and Ollie Drake replacing Garin Harris and Harry Fry.
Morgan Williams took a long kick to touch. Aberavon’s lineout completed, but the ball went to ground mid-move. Dafydd Buckland was on it in a flash, popping the ball out to Lloyd Lewis who managed to take a tricky ball at head height and blast through for a try. Carwyn Penny kicked the conversion to make it Newport 43 Aberavon 5 on 54 minutes.
Dafydd Buckland’s shift was over, Lucas Welsh taking over, while Callum Bradbury gave way to Ioan Rhys Davies.
Morgan Williams picked a lovely line in attack with Noah Morgan in support. The winger looked for support himself, Ben Roach, of course being omnipresent. Aberavon’s defence tried to push out, but the Black & Ambers were brimming with confidence. Wave upon wave of Newport jerseys streamed forward before a neat cross-kick into the path of Lucas Welsh allowed the scrum half to gather and score under the crossbar. Carwyn Penny added the conversion making it Newport 50 Aberavon 5.
The Aberavon defence was in tatters; Newport appeared to be able to score at will. From the restart, Aberavon’s Owen Griffiths carelessly wiped out Morgan Williams in mid-air. Sensibly, Mr Jones just awarded Newport the penalty rather than making a fuss about it. Carwyn Penny kicked Newport back upfield. From the lineout, Newport worked purposefully, Josh Reid strode through some weak tackling before passing out to the newly on the field Joe Salter, who had replaced Lloyd Lewis just seconds earlier. This made the score Newport 55 Aberavon 5 on 62 minutes.
Harrison James replaced Chay Foster-Smith at this point, while Aneurin Jenkins had come on for Henry Palmer.
‘Absolute cinema’ was written in my notes about the next try. The Wizards defence weren’t even trying anymore, reduced to tackle bags in midfield. Josh Skinner suddenly began running ball in hand, like a kid with a new-found love for the game. Lucas Welsh linked intelligently, Harrison James plotted a way forward, Aneurin Jenkins battled hard, driving the red and black shirts back. One Wizard at least tried to act as a speedbump, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Lucas Welsh feeding the ball to Kyle Tayler to crash over under the posts. Carwyn Penny added the conversion to make it Newport 62 Aberavon 5 on 64 minutes.
The Black & Ambers looked for more, and a lineout, close in provided the next opportunity. Josh Skinner simply picked the ball up off the deck and crashed over. Carwyn Penny added the conversion again to make it Newport 69 Aberavon 5 on 72 minutes. Nobody, but nobody had seen this coming.
It wasn’t over yet as Harrison James kicked an outstanding 50:22, the ball rolling to just 5-metres out. The body language of the Aberavon pack was telling; they knew what was coming but couldn’t stop it. Ben Roach popped the ball down to Josh Skinner, the pod formed around him and the big man was driven over for his second, and Newport’s twelfth, try. Carwyn Penny nailed the touchline conversion to make it Newport 76 Aberavon 5.
With nothing to lose, Aberavon mounted an attack. The Newport defence switched in, but the Wizards attack was ragged. However, Felix Gilbert did enough to sneak in at the corner and score the try.
This wasn’t just a generational win against The Wizards; it just hasn’t happened before. Aberavon are a great club, with good coaches and decent players, but what happened here won’t be explained easily. To ship 52 points in one half of rugby is incredible. They have until Thursday, when they play Swansea, to sort themselves out.
Full Time: Newport RFC 76 Aberavon RFC 10
The Black & Ambers now have RGC on December 20th to look forward to. This, of course, presents Newport supporters a final chance to pick up their goodies for under the Christmas tree! The club shop will be open but get in early as stock may be limited. After Christmas Day, Newport are on the road again, on December 27th, when they travel to North Wales to face RGC in Colwyn Bay. There’s nothing like playing your local rivals over the Festive Season, and this is nothing like playing you local rivals over the Festive Season. In January 2026, Newport RFC are at home against Carmarthen Quins in another Super Rygbi Cymru at Newport Stadium. That’ll be a great time to blow out those festive cobwebs and cheer on the Black & Ambers!
Onwards and upwards Newport.
Your City. Your Colours. Your Club
#cotp
Final Score – Newport RFC 76 Aberavon RFC 10
Seren y Gem – Josh Reid