A total of 25 tries were scored over two games at Cardiff University Sports Park on Saturday as East Wales took on West Wales at under 16 level.
In addition to the main Origin encounter between the two regions, a development match was also played.
West clinched a tight encounter 34-28 in the Origin match thanks to a try by Joseph Bailey in the last play of the game.
It was nip and tuck throughout. Jack Parrott opened the scoring for West, diving under the sticks, with Matthew Clatworthy converting.
East were soon level. Charlie Burrows did well to dive low to score and Rhys Wood converted.
West regained the lead with a Harry Wigglesworth try that Clatworthy improved, but a few minutes later, Burrows and Wood got their second try and goal respectively and the scores were level again.
But West went into half-time with an 18-12 lead after Morgan Jenkins scored just right of the sticks and Clatworthy converted.
East were soon back in the game again. Just a minute after the interval, Noah Johnson finished off an excellent set to score. Wood couldn’t convert so West were two points up.
Kelyn Jude-Hobbs added the next try for East, with Wood converting to put the score on to 22-18.
West were soon back in front, despite being down to 12 at the time. player of the match Zac Nottingham weaved his way under the posts and Clatworthy converted.
Ioan Herbert then extended West’s advantage with a try in the corner. Clatworthy converted well from the touchline to put the score onto 30-22.
There was still time for Ollie Mitchell to dive over for another East Wales try. Wood converted and the score was back to 30-28.
However, the ball was dropped from kick-off giving Bailey the chance to collect to run in the winning try that went unconverted.
Despite only naming two substitutes, East proved that quality can defeat quantity as they took charge to win 46-36 in the Development Match.
Harry Rich avoided all to score the first try for East Wales, going in under the sticks. Max Phillips converted before adding a try of his own which he again improved.
Josh Johnson and Sonnie Sargent added further tries before the break with Phillips converting both to put the score on 24-0 with less than ten minutes to go in the half.
But there was still time for two tries back for West before the break. Gethin Owen to roll for the first before Nathan Lee made a good winger’s run for the second. Lewys Catley converted both to put the half-time score on 24-12 to East.
The comeback continued early in the second half when Owen scored his second try of the day with Catley adding the goal.
But the two-try cushion was soon restored when Phillips added his second try and fifth goal. Tries from Theo Patterson-Phillips try and Josh Harding extended the lead further, Phillips converting both.
Again West started to make a comeback. Charley Noakes, William Tams and Sargent all scored in the corner with Ruben Main converting from the touchline three times to bring the score back to 42-36
But it was left to Rich to complete the game as he started it, with a great winger’s try to seal the game for East. Phillips missed the kick, the first one to be off-target in the game, but the 10-point lead was enough.
