The sun occasionally broke through light cloud and a fresh westerly breeze blew straight down the pitch from the Mumbles end. Around 200 spectators turned out, including local alumnus Steve Mann. Given the nature of the exercise the coaching teams had agreed in advance not to kick at goal from penalties and to similarly decline conversion opportunities.

1st 30min period lineup
15. Tom Jarvis
14. Matt Farrington
13. Stefan Shillingford
12. Ben Barkley
11. Jamie Hearn
10. Gary Dipple
9. Pete White
1. Mike Hill
2. Dale Garner
3. Tom May
4. Nile Dacres
5. Robbie Hurrell (c)
6. Nigel Mukarati
7. Ejike Uzoigwe
8. James Rodley

Swansea kicked off with first use of the wind attacking the St Helens end. A fumbled catch gave them the feed of a scrum and a first view of the new ‘crouch, bind, set’ engagement sequence which the front rows appeared to adapt to without issue. An attack down the right was easily shepherded into touch enabling Pete White to kick clear from the lineout. Swansea countered but the Stourbridge defence was solid with Nigel Mukarati putting in some trademark big hits, one of which forced a turnover that was run back and forced a penalty out of the hosts as they went off their feet arriving at the tackle. They repeated the transgression shortly after enabling Gary Dipple to kick to the corner where captain Robbie Hurrell’s take launched a threequarter attack. The visitors recycled possession effectively, stretching the hosts’ defence with several direct forward drives before Pete White moved the ball left where Dipple’s pass put Ben Barkley into space to score. 7min 0-5.

Another dropped restart put Swansea straight back into attack, forcing Stourbridge to work hard in defence as the ball was moved fast & wide. A score looked likely when Swansea’s elusive scrum half scrambled through a gap in the ruck fringe defences, but his support runner was collared just short of the line by James Rodley who forced a penalty for holding on. Rodders repeated the trick on Swansea’s next attack following intelligent defensive work by Matt Farrington, but continuity was lost as both sides shipped penalties for playing the ball off their feet at the tackle. The hosts then stripped possession from a Stourbridge attacker, countered at pace and kicked for the corner when a tackler failed to release quickly enough. They drove from the lineout, drawing a further penalty and opting for a 5m scrum from which their no.8 crashed over from the base but lost the ball forward in the grounding. A Stefan Shillingford half-break nearly put Barkley in the clear, but the offload failed to go to hand and Swansea found touch deep in the Stourbridge 22. White’s clearance kick was run back, the hosts’ flanker burst through a gap in the defences and a neat draw & give put his fullback through to score. 22min 5-5.

It was the hosts’ turn to fumble a restart, Stourbridge securing possession and launching a set of phases that ended when an attacker got penalised for holding on deep in the Swansea 22. The hosts ran it quickly, breaking though a misaligned defence and a neat interchange generated a breakaway try for their winger. 24min, 10-5, with the game being played at breakneck speed and no quarter at all being shown in the collisions around the tackle area.

A tap penalty found Hurrell lurking on the right wing but he was brought down short of the line. The hosts were content to clear their lines but Stourbridge came back at them, Hearn, Farrington & Shillingford linking in a counter from deep that produced quick ball in the hosts’ 22 and a deft display of hands from prop Mike ‘Cheese’ Hill, but the opportunity went begging and the period ended with a knock on. 30min 10-5.

2nd 30min period
15. Sam Baker
14. Matt Farrington
13. Dan Thompson
12. Tim Douglas
11. Ash Oyekan
10. Gary Dipple (sub 54min Lucas Roy-Smith)
9. Sione Tu’ipolotu
1. Kyle Garner
2. Scott Wright
3. Mike Hill
4. Chris Depper
5. Robbie Hurrell
6. Ciaran Moore
7. James Rodley
8. Seamus McKimm

Both squads made extensive changes to their lineups for the 2nd period, the visitors kicking off with the wind advantage which was used immediately by both Sione Tu’ipolotu and Sam Baker to find touches deep in the Swansea 22. Stourbridge’s catch & drive was held up over the line, resulting in a scrum 5 and a series of attacking drives which drew another penalty and kick for the corner. The throw was overcooked though enabling Swansea to attack from deep and create a line-break before Baker’s tackle caused a knock-on. Dipple’s deep infield kick was hoisted back by the Swansea fullback from which Dan Thompson moved the ball left to Baker who burst clean through a gap and fed Ash Oyekan who scored in the corner. 39min 10-10.

The restart was kicked back at Swansea and with the sun in his eyes their fullback struggled to take it cleanly, an effective kick chase forcing a knock-on near halfway. Swansea’s pack conceded a penalty at the scrum and it was kicked for the corner but another misdirected throw turned the ball over in a promising position. Swansea moved the ball quickly right where a Tim Douglas tackle drew a penalty for the ball carrier failing to release. The sides traded further penalties before a long Swansea lineout throw was poached by Rodders who found Ciaran Moore in support. He in turn fed Robbie Hurrell who crashed over to score. 46min 10-15.

Good work from his lifters enabled Hurrell to secure the restart and Stourbridge got the better of a kick exchange. A mistimed crash ball resulted in possession gifted back to Swansea who again ran it but knocked on in turn, their under-pressure pack penalised for pulling round at the subsequent scrum. The kick to the corner yielded a free-kick that Tu’ipolotu took quickly but was held up just short of the line. The ball was recycled and further drive pulled the defence out of shape enough for Dipple to step inside his defender to score near the posts. 53min 10-20.

Dipple took a breather, Tu’ipolotu moved to outside half and Lucas Roy-Smith entered the fray, his first action to hoist a long kick downfield after another Hurrell restart catch. Farrington’s kick chase again drew dividends when the defender lost possession, Roy-Smith hacked the ball further downfield where his tackle drew a penalty for Swansea’s fullback failing to release. This was taken quickly, went through the hands of the centres and was smartly recycled left where Rodders crossed to score. 55min 10-25.

A kick exchange from the restart led to a Swansea attack that stalled when a loose pass was gathered by Moore. Thompson’s subsequent line-break looked likely to result in a try but he was hauled down in the corner by the last defender. Back came Swansea from deep, a line-break created by a neat offload in the tackle eventually reaching the Stourbridge 22 but the move stalled with a loose pass and eventually the realigned defence forced a ball carrier into touch. 60min 10-25.

3rd 30min period
15. Sam Baker (75min sub Tom Jarvis)
14. Will Harris
13. Stefan Shillingford
12. Bobbie Lawrenson
11. Ash Oyekan (75min sub Jamie Hearn)
10. Sione Tu’ipolotu
9. Lucas Roy-Smith
1. Dale Garner
2. Jordan Page
3. Tom May
4. Nile Dacres
5. Ciaran Moore
6. Nigel Mukarati
7. Ejike Uzoigwe
8. Chris Depper

After another extensive reshuffle Tu’ipolotu kicked a high restart that was held up in the wind. Oyekan’s chase and basketball-style catch snatched the ball from under the noses of the Swansea forwards, it was moved right in a promising move but a knock on enabled the hosts to clear. Their scrum half again managed to squeeze through the fringe defences before being tackled just short of the line, his support players went off their feet enabling Stourbridge to clear their lines.
Neither side was able to press home their next set of attacks, Depper managing to deflect the Swansea lineout throw on several occasions but handling errors between unfamiliar player combinations remained the recurrent theme. Edgie was turned over just short of the Swansea line following a pass from Depper, then he managed to charge down and regather an attempted Swansea clearance kick but lacked support and couldn’t get an optimistic long pass away cleanly.

Swansea’s large tighthead got penalised for twisting in the scrum and got marched back a further 10m presumably for offering the referee the benefit of his insight into matters front row. Stourbridge kicked for the corner where a clean take by Nile Dacres set up a maul that was held up, as was Jordan Page’s subsequent drive but Tu’ipolotu’s pass found Baker in space and he dived to ground the 6th try. 74min, 10-30.

There were to be no further scores, Stourbridge’s conditioning work over the last few weeks paying dividends as they retained their shape and workrate well in defence. Both team’s attacks foundered as the tempo of the game remained breathless and passes continued to fail to go to hand.

Coach Mike Umaga commented “We came here looking to test our fitness, which we did from the off, we put ourselves under pressure but kept our heads & worked hard. We delivering the game plan both with and without ball in hand, and retained our composure under pressure, especially in the first period. It was great to see so many of the squad players putting their hands up, that will make for some tough selection decisions”.

Next week Stourton Park hosts a pre-season fixture against old friends Wharfedale, kick off 2pm.