IT'S CALLED WINNING
It was a measure of how far Gogledd Cymru have come that there was no celebration last night as they recorded their first win since they began their march towards the Premiership.
They beat Liverpool St Helens 10-5, in a four quartered, rolling subsitute, friendly. It could have been 30-5 . Gogledd Cymru created try scoring chances in abundance but a series of dropped or mis-timed passes frustrated both players and spectators.
Will Bown was inspirational as captain and Sean McDonagh and Harri Morgan ran in excellent tries. Llion Trefor continued to impress and the raw talents of young Dewi James and Andrew Williams in the backrow provide a platform for development. Mathew Parry and Rhodri Carlton-Jones were wizard like in attack but too many times the Gogs squandered possession and failed to preserve space.
At 10pm on a warm August evening, when the team boarded the bus in St Helens for far flung destinations in Caernarfon and Anglesey, there was no doubt in any of the players minds of the mission ahead. In defeat, the phrase "it is not about winning" seemed an excuse. Success reiterated this. It is about performance, skill, decision making and flair. Triumph and Disaster are mere imposters in the progress of this team towards rugby excellence.