The Warriors managed to see off the South Auckland Kiwis in what some locals dubbed the 'test' match of the tour.
The sides had met the previous day as part of a round robin and the Warriors triumphed again in a full 80 minute encounter.

Zander Lamb was the only casualty from the previous days matches with a neck injury but with Mark Davies and Jonathan Smith both making their debuts and the return of kiwi based Warriors Rhys Beasley it was still a large squad and Gary James was duly loaned to the Kiwis to ensure they had enough players.

The Warriors had the honour of facing a pre match haka and responded with a rousing version of Hen Wlad Fy'n Hadau before the game got underway.
Simon Day was again the 1st to score, and his strong running was a feature of the game. he scored two tries, tackled well and was later named man of the match in h what was his best performance for the club to date. he was ably supported by a full cast, with opposite wing Tom Ashour also impressing. Ben Win scored and made a try for Andrew Davies. Up front, Tom Hall and Nathan Lawson impressed again whilst Captain Richard Evans led from the front and also kicked a cheeky conversion.

The Kiwis played a full part and scored some cracking tries of their own, just not quite able to catch the Warriors. Ben Kitson got one of their scores with a direct run to the line and Lee Rowlands also featured well for the home team. They also had the last word when a speculative Gareth Gravell pass was plucked out of the air and they raced in for the last move of the game.

An enjoyable match, the quality of rugby from both sides was excellent and it took a complete Warriors performance to take the game.

Warriors: Rhys Beasley (Tom Edwards), Simon Day (Dan John), Nathan Murphy (Gordon Lyons), Ben Winstanley (Lee Rowlands), Ben Kitson (Tom Ashour), Jamie Evans (Gary James), Craig James, Huw Jenkins (Colin Tacon), Richard Evans (Cpt), Mark Lewis (Neil Roberts), John Horwood (Mark Davies, Jonathan Smith), Andrew Davies (Roy Davies), Nathan Lawson (Jordan Jones), Tom Hall (Gareth Gravell), Gwilym Lewis (Jamal Ashour)

Man Of the Match: Mark Lewis/Simon Day

Once the kit had been sorted (with several socks/shorts borrowed from Hamilton Marist) it was a cracking performance from the Warriors. Simon Day got a J Barrat player issue All Black top for his performance whilst Gappa picked Fudge which meant he got a free pint. As well as those mentioned, Ben Win, Lee, Jamie and Grav all served the Kiwi cause, sometimes with a little too much enthusiasm. Nice to have Rhys Beasley take the field again, the Warriors very own kiwi returning 12 years after last joining the Warriors on tour. Amazingly not only did he show he had lost none of his kicking ability (one fantastic clearance effort standing out) but he also tackled some people this time (!!). Unfortunately Ian Marshy didn't quite make the team, the former Taranaki number 8s path back to the ranks blocked by the blockbusting Tom Hall. Good fun back in the clubhouse as well with even Ken Bitson having a go at being slave (once he'd stopped phoning people to complain).

The match was featured on NZTV: https://www.facebook.com/TTRugbyVids/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE

BBC Sport: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/40340857

And S4C: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=S4C%20Chwaraeon&init=mag_glass&tas=0.7128354781068775&search_first_focus=1499103088315

and NO it wasn't a draw!!

LLANELLI WARRIORS RFC

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