Narberth RFC junior section Under 14s team proved that they can play high quality rugby and take on the best that any opposition has to throw at them, in a mini tour of the West Country which took place over the weekend in which they played their matching age groups at Taunton RFC and Bath RFC.

Although being pushed extremely hard by English teams that were physically much bigger than the young Otters, strong defence by the forwards and some excellent ball handing by the backs of the current West Wales Cup holders, produced a winning score sheet in the two games that they played.

On Saturday, the young Otters played Taunton, who were undefeated at their age group this season. However, two tries and a conversion in the first half and a matching 12 points in the second proved too much for the home team, with a final score line of Taunton RFC U14s 0 Narberth RFC U14s 24, being an extremely pleasing result for coaching staff, players and parents alike.

Sunday took the touring boys to Kingwood School on the outskirts of Bath. The excellent facilities at this independent school are used by Bath's junior section and also for some training facilities by Bath's Guinness Premiership squad.

As with the previous day's encounter at Taunton, a hard-fought match was expected and proved to be the case, with an early try by Narberth being responded to immediately by Bath Youth. A strongly contested first half saw the home team trailing by only five points, with a scoreline of 17 -12.

The second half continued in the same vein, with some strong defence work by Narberth, whose pack were physically much smaller than their counterparts, preventing Bath from crossing the line.

However, determination, fitness and some wonderful ball handling skills by the Narberth backs proved ultimately to be too strong, with a final scoreline of Bath Youth U14s 17 Narberth U14s 37. The young Otters will now have to refocus on their return home as some challenging games lie ahead in the Pembrokeshire Cup and at the Neyland junior rugby festival.

Touring Narberth U14s squad: Daryl Brown, Vincent Morse, Ryan Rees, Harry Frost, Rhys Thomas, Sion Bennett, Zac France-Miller, Will Holmes, Teague Galvin, Stuart White, Will Lewis, Gareth Owens (captain) Conner Lloyd, Owen Davies, William Boyd, Lawrence Hedlam, Ryan Walters, Adam Fearson, Liam Salmon, Sam Blackledge.