West Wales have taken the 2025 WRL U16 Origin title after an emphatic second-half display against East Wales in Merthyr Tydfil on Saturday.
There wasn’t much in it at half-time as they went into the break 16-10 to the good, but seven tries in the second half gave them a 52-28 victory.
And because of their 34-28 win over East Wales in Cardiff a fortnight ago, West cannot now be caught and have taken the series.
They didn’t have it all their own way in the first 40 minutes. A Cole Pelopida try gave East Wales the lead in the seventh minute. Rhys Wood converted.
Evan Benjamin raced 50 metres for West’s first try, scored on 20 minutes, with Matthew Clatworthy’s kick levelling the scores at 6-6.
East regained the lead on 27 minutes when Jack Willis scored in the corner. That 10-6 lead was then cancelled out when Ioan Herbert dived over, again out wide. Both kicks were missed leaving the score at 10-10.
But West went into the break 16-10 ahead thanks to an Ollie Williams try on the hooter converted by Clatworthy.
They extended their lead three minutes into the second half with a William Tams try in the corner.
Pelopida’s second try brought East back into the game. Wood’s second goal brought the score back to 20-16, then Evan Williams scored from the next set and another Wood goal gave the advantage back to East.
Player of the match Clatworthy then went from goal-kicker to try scorer as he went over to give West the lead back. Jack Parrott stepped up to convert and West were now 26-22 up with over 20 minutes still remaining.
That was when West started running things. Jack Field, who was player of the match in the development game, came on as a substitute in this match and promptly scored a brace of tries to extend West’s lead to 34-22.
Clatworthy soon ran over for his second try of the game. He scored under the sticks making the kick easy for Parrott to completely cement the win with 12 minutes remaining.
Their ninth try came with six minutes remaining. Luis Towell made use of a gap to score and Parrott converted.
Benjamin raced away for West’s tenth try, bringing up the half-century. Parrott again added the goal.
But the final say went to East as Charlie Burrows scored a consolation try that Wood improved.
WALES WALES ORIGIN U16
1. Ioan Herbert (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
2. William Tams (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
3. Ceirion Emment-Jones (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
4. Evan Benjamin (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
5. Joseph Bailey (Swansea Rams)
6. Jack Parrott (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
7. Matthew Clatworthy (c) (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
8. Morgan Jenkins (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
9. Callum Hedges (Swansea Rams)
10. Will Dawkins (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
11. Oliver Williams (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
12. Luis Towell (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
13. Ronan Hire (vc) (Swansea Rams)
Subs:
14. Lewys Catley (Swansea Rams)
15. Jack Field (Cynon Valley Cavaliers)
16. Hari Coulthard (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
17. Leo Giraud (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
18. Corey Mayes (Swansea Rams)
EAST WALES ORIGIN U16
1. Alfie Prosser (Torfaen Tigers)
2. Harry Rich (South Wales Jets)
3. Matthew Dixon (Torfaen Tigers)
4. Oliver Strickland (Aber Valley Wolves)
5. Alfie Davies (Aber Valley Wolves)
6. Rhys Wood (Aber Valley Wolves)
7. Kelyn Jude-Hobbs (Torfaen Tigers)
8. Harrison Flowers (c) (Aber Valley Wolves)
9. Charlie Burrows (Torfaen Tigers)
10. Cole Pelopida (Torfaen Tigers)
20. Connor Hawkey Cardiff Blue Dragons
12. Jack Willis (Torfaen Tigers)
13. Evan Williams (vc) (Torfaen Tigers)
Subs:
11. Cale Thatcher (Cardiff Blue Dragons)
14. Ieuan Jones (Torfaen Tigers)
15. Ollie Mitchell (Torfaen Tigers)
16. Josh Johnson (Torfaen Tigers)
17. Beau Copeman (Torfaen Tigers)
18. Jayden Coxe (Aber Valley Wolves)
Referee: Ieuan Griffiths
West Wales also won the curtain-raiser between their development sides, beating East 36-34.
A Josh Johnson try in the first minute gave East a quick lead. Ieuan Jones converted.
West soon levelled. Cori George went over in the corner. Lewys Catley converted well.
Johnson scored again to to give his side the lead back on 11 minutes. Jones again adding the goal.
But the match soon swung back West’s way as unconverted tries from Samuel Evans and Charlie Noakes gave them a 14-12 lead.
But just before half-time, Max Morris dived over and Jones converted to give East an 18-14 lead at the break.
West started strong in the second half with Nathan Lee scoring a try from their first attack. Again the try went unconverted so the scores were level.
East again regained the lead. Jayden Coxe scored under the sticks and Jones added another goal.
West defended well to keep East out on more than one occasion and with 10 minutes to go, their heroics were rewarded as they went onto the attack and levelled. Cori George with the try and Ruben Main adding the extras to make the score 24-all.
That wasn’t the end of it as the lead continued to change hands.
First, Ollie Mitchell gave East the lead back with an unconverted try. Then Corey Mayes try for Wests and Main converted to give West a 30-28 lead. Finally, Charlie Noakes put the seal on a deserved West Wales win with a try and Main added the goal.
But it was East who had the final say. A good passing move put Sonnie Sargent over in the corner with Jones converting.
WEST U16 DEVELOPMENT
14. Tom Rees (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
2. Nathan Lee (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
3. Cole Evans (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
4. Iestyn Ede (Rhondda Outlaws)
5. Jack Condick (Rhondda Outlaws)
6. Ruben Main (vc) (Rhondda Outlaws)
7. Lewys Catley (Swansea Rams)
8. Charlie Noakes (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
9. Samuel Evans (Rhondda Outlaws)
10. Thomas Hayden (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
11. Cori George (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
12. Joseph Keating (c) (Rhondda Outlaws)
15. Corey Mayes (Swansea Rams)
Subs:
18. Iestyn Elcock (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
17. Gethin Owen (Rhondda Outlaws)
16. Jack Field (Cynon Valley Cavaliers)
19. Charlie Joe Evans (Bridgend Blue Bulls)
EAST WALES DEVELOPMENT U16
1. Ieuan Jones (Torfaen Tigers)
2. Sonnie Sargent (Aber Valley Wolves)
3. Tristan White (South Wales Saints)
17. Jack Willis (Torfaen Tigers)
5. Josh Harding (Cardiff Blue Dragons)
6. Beau Copeman (Torfaen Tigers)
7. Alfie Davies (Aber Valley Wolves)
8. Ollie Mitchell (Torfaen Tigers)
9. Josh Johnson (c) (Torfaen Tigers)
10. Roman Jones (vc) (Torfaen Tigers)
4. Connor Hawkey (Cardiff Blue Dragons)
12. Ollie Strickland (Aber Valley Wolves)
13. Cale Thatcher (Cardiff Blue Dragons)
Subs:
14. Alex Harkin (Cardiff Blue Dragons)
18. Jayden Coxe (South Wales Jets)
11. Max Morris (Torfaen Tigers)
Referee: Ieuan Griffiths
