By David Parsons
Reigning champions Cardiff will host Llandovery in the Indigo Premiership final on Sunday, 21 May after they both used home advantage to win their semi-finals.
At the Arms Park, Cardiff beat Newport 21-7, while at Church Bank, Llandovery overcame Merthyr 16-13.
It means Steve Law’s Blue & Blacks will be chasing a league and cup double, while Euros Evans’ Drovers will be chasing a first league title.
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Newport arrived in the Welsh capital hoping to avenge their narrow defeat in the WRU Premiership Cup final at Principality Stadium, but missed the experience, influence and guidance of skipper Matt O’Brien at No 10.
While the Black & Ambers started confidently and enjoyed the greater share of territory in the early exchanges, they found the Cardiff defence tough to break down.
Cardiff had the first shot at putting points on the board, but Harrison James, in at No 10 for the injured Dan Fish, was just wide from 40 metres into the wind.
All that work..held up. Well done @Cardiff_RFC v @NewportRFC pic.twitter.com/97PfieMKyW
— Jonathan (@MrJonathanCarr) May 14, 2023
Opposite number Matt Bancroft, who filled in at outside half for O’Brien, was also off the mark with his first kick at goal, from just outside the 22 and went on to miss an even easier shot just before the break.
Either side of his second miss Cardiff conjured up two tries to earn themselves a 14-0 interval lead. Both came from Wales U20 full back Cam Winnett as he showcased his speed and finishing ability.
The first came after Newport had kicked to the corner, lost control of the ball and then saw James break the line and kick up the left touchline for Winnett to chase. He just kept the ball in play and after hacking up to the 22 the ball bounced into his arms on the 22 allowing him to race unopposed to the posts,
James added the conversion and then improved Winnett’s second try in the right corner. Newport needed to change things up and brought on Carwyn Penny to replace Bancroft for the second half, along with Josh Reid, who took over in the back row from Kyle Taylor.
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Penny breathed new life into the Newport side and it took only five minutes into the second half before they got on the scoreboard. Cardiff kicked the ball dead from their own 22 and the Black & Ambers worked a try in the corner from the scrum from Elliot Frewen.
Penny’s wide angled conversion sailed through the posts and Newport enjoyed a purple patch. They had the option to close the gap to four points soon after, but once again opted to kick for the line out.
Crucially, Cardiff held them up over the try line and were able to clear the danger. Then came the final nail in the coffin as the home side snapped up a turnover, kicked through and saw the perfect bounce end up in the hands of top scorer Dewi Cross.
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He raced to the posts for his 20th try of the campaign and James added the extras. To their credit, Newport kept fighting to the death and were once again held up over the line in the dying minutes.
Meanwhile, at Church Bank, it was tight from start to finish, with Merthyr having a final drive for glory from a line-out deep in the home 22 thwarted as they went for glory. Jack Maynard opened the scoring with a penalty for the Drovers which was soon matched by Josh Lewis.
Then, Harri Doel almost reached the line moments after Merthyr lost prop Dave Whiting to the sin-bin for not retreating at a penalty. Once Doel had been halted, Lee Rees fed flanker Osian Davies who drove over for a try that Maynard improved.
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Maynard kicked a second penalty to make it 13-3 at the break. The home lead looked to have been increased at the start of the second half when Aaron Warren played kick and chase before diving over the lines, but his try was ruled out by the TMO for an improper grounding.
Back game Merthyr and Lewis cut the gap with his second penalty before man of the match Ioan Hughes dropped a goal to make it a 10 point gap in the 56th minute.
The Ironmen refused to give up and a driving line-out propelled replacement hooker Dan Wall over for a try nine minutes later. Lewis added the extras to make it 16-13 with 16 minutes to play.
The Drovers were forced to dig deep to survive, but held on to win through to their first Premiership final.
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