Proctor the productive

RUGBY UNION Llanelli 52 Treorchy 7

THE RETURN of their prodigal son, the coach Gareth Jenkins, after a difficult stint with the national side, seems to have re-ignited the boilers of this Llanelli team, who in his absence have seriously under- performed. They have now scored 92 points in their first two matches in the Heineken League this season.

It was not that Treorchy were bad, for they never gave up and some of their forward driving play was of a high standard. It was merely that Llanelli were so good, eight tries evidencing the vivaciousness of their game. Their hooker, Andrew Lamerton, was everywhere, and the winger Wayne Proctor scored three magnificent tries. Gareth Jenkins said afterwards: "The Llanelli team today demonstrated the type of game that we in Llanelli and Wales ought to play, which is 15-man rugby, with both forwards and backs running with the ball in their hands. We could not have had a better start to our season."

Mindful of the new season's message from the Welsh Rugby Union, to let the game breathe, the referee Derek Bevan did just that but left no serious misdemeanours unpunished and showed Treorchy forwards two yellow cards.

Treorchy began disastrously when David Lloyd missed a penalty in front of the posts and, undeterred, Llanelli quickly began to widen their game. Their only early rewards were two penalty-goals by Stephen Pearce, but their elan remained high, and a swingeing attack put Wayne Proctor over for a try.

The home team continued on their merry way when Justin Thomas came into a blind-side move to score a try converted by Pearce, and further sweeping Llanelli attacks brought a try by Craig Quinnell. A push-over try attributed to Owain Lloyd made it 30-0 at half-time.

Soon after the interval, David Evans knocked down a pass and the referee awarded a penalty-try, converted by Pearce. Two more tries by Proctor and another by Rupert Moon brought overwhelming victory. At the last, Robert Morgan got a consolation try for Treorchy, converted by Alun Harries.

But the visitors, who were third in the league last season, will have to pull their socks up if they are to maintain that sort of challenge.

Llanelli: J Thomas; W Proctor, N Boobyer, N Davies, D Evans; S Pearce, R Moon; R Jones, A Lamerton, S John, P Davies (capt), A Copsey, C Quinnell, O Lloyd, P Morris.

Treorchy: D Lloyd; A Harries, P Jones, R Morgan, A Lewis; D Evans, C Bridges; T Orrell, K Jones, M Powell, S Evans, A Gregory, N Jones, G Owen (capt), S Eggar.

Referee: W D Bevan (WRU).