It isn’t clear if Aberavon RFC youngster Rhodri Lewis has ever tried to negotiate the zigs and the zags of an Alpine skiing course, but the teenager certainly knows how to slalom.
The young scrum-half has won the Indigo Group Premiership try of the season award after his blood-twisting effort for the Wizards against Swansea before Christmas. Lewis’ score attracted 60 percent of the votes in a poll of viewers organised by S4C. Llandovery’s Rhodri Jones took second spot after a flowing coast-to-coast move ended in a stylish touchdown against Merthyr.
But it was always hard to imagine anything topping Lewis’ effort. The score came in Aberavon’s 28-13 victory over the Whites in December.
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If they aren’t still talking about it in the Talbot Athletic Ground bar, they should be. Nothing much appeared on when back-three man Joe Gage fielded a kick 10 metres inside his own half with barely six minutes left on the clock. He took play to half way before offloading to fellow replacement Lewis.
It was then that the fun started. Lewis was about to show he had the fancy moves to go with the flashy orange boots he was wearing.
An injection of pace took him through a corridor of white-shirted players before a hint of a step off the left foot tempted a would-be tackler to commit himself, only to find himself hopelessly undone by a sharp move to the right which saw Lewis take the outside lane.
There was still another Swansea player in front of him, but not for long, with Lewis unleashing a step inside to leave the last line of defence clutching handfuls of thin air.
The dance of the Wizard complete, all that remained was for the 17-year-old to raise his left arm in celebratory salute before diving over. "Happy to have won try of the season in my first year of Prem rugby, been a great season on a personal level by being able to achieve all my targets for the season," Lewis said.
“Fair play to him, it was an exceptional try,” Aberavon head coach Jason Hyatt later told WalesOnline. “It was a fantastic side-step and finish.
“For me, you don’t see enough side-steps in the game now. You don’t see them as often as you used to. I don’t know why because it buys you so much space.
“Probably the last player on the professional front who used to do it on a regular basis was Shane Williams. It’s a great natural skill to have.”
Swansea, of course, have a tradition of great stepping players with David Richards and Mark Titley among them. But on this occasion the Whites were on the wrong end of some sharp footwork, with the lad from Ystalyfera, who is with the Ospreys’ academy and part of the Wales U18s’ set-up, ripping their defence apart.
Assuredly, it was a score which deserved an award.
