The Blues opened their account in the WRU Reebok Regional under 20 Championship with an outstanding 26-23 victory over the Scarlets at Stradey Park last night.
But the game was somewhat overshadowed by serious injuries to Blues captain Jevon Groves, who suffered a back injury and the Scarlets prop Huw Gustafson who broke his leg. The Scarlets led 20-8 at the interval courtesy of two tries from wing Gruff Jones and 10 points from the boot of Llangennech's Jonathan Griffiths. Matthew Larsen bagged a try for the Blues and after Kristian Bala (Pontypridd) had added a penalty before the interval, the Blues struck back with further tries from Tom Daly and Sam Warburton (Glamorgan Wanderers) and two more Bala penalties and a conversion.
WRU regional high performance manager Gafyn Cooper said, "You never like to see players getting injured and we wish both guys a speedy recovery. "As far as our performance was concerned, I thought we played well in the second half and deserved to win." Outside half Celyn Ashton and flanker James Cullen were outstanding on a night that will certainly give the Blues a significant lift.
Under 20s WRU Championship
Scarlets 23
Blues 26