Wales u16s 12-22 North West England Lionhearts u17s & TORFAEN TIGERS 20 LONDON CHARGERS 48

A spirited second half response was not enough for Wales under 16s as they succumbed to North West England Lionhearts under 17s 22-12 at Stebonheath Park in Llanelli on Saturday.

The third game of Wales’ representative schedule saw them fall behind early on, with two tries coming down the visitors’ left-hand side, Sam Lewis with the first, then Joe Heaton second, both converted by Callum Topping.

After Lionhearts’ Tom Houragan Damer was sent to the sin bin for a tip tackle, Wales were able to take advantage of the extra space afforded to them and moved the ball wide to Morgan Johnson who finished well after being denied a similar try just moments earlier.

As both sides exchanged sets in search for the next score, the Lionhearts extended their lead to 16-6 just before the interval with a Cory Hamer try in the corner.

A fourth North West try just after half-time, scored by Liam Byrne and converted by Topping, seemingly put Wales out of reach, but the hosts responded brilliantly; a flowing passing move culminated in Iuean Smith touching down in the corner and Taylor Phillips converting.

The home side pressed to reduce the deficit further, but staunch defence from the Lionhearts resulted in an entertaining contest drawing to a close.

The Wales under 16’s staff would like to thank the Lionhearts staff and squad for travelling to West Wales and  being a part of a fantastic occasion in which we hope to reproduce next year.

We would also like to thank everyone involved at Stebonheath Park for making the day run so smoothly.

Despite the scoreline, everyone in WRL is extremely proud of how every player represented their country in this well-fought encounter.

TORFAEN TIGERS 20 LONDON CHARGERS 48

LONDON CHARGERS will top the final table at the expense of Valley Cougars if they can win at last year’s champions Nottingham Outlaws on Saturday.

The Chargers are on the cusp of glory after winning 48-20 at TORFAEN TIGERS with the help of a Joe Briggs brace and tries for Brady Stewart, Blake Stewart, Timmy Dudley, Eric Sims, Liam McGee, Tom Poole and Mike Butcher.

Torfaen, who were 34-6 adrift at the interval, `drew’ the second period and closed with touchdowns for Liam Silver, Jarred Winner, Sam Barr and Euan Morris, two of which Dai Thomas converted.