A rare summer's day greeted the start of the new season with a triangular tournament against Newent, Tredegar and Gwernyfed.

First match of the day saw the Monmouth boys take on their counterparts from Newent in Gloucestershire. Early rustiness was inevitable after the long summer break, but eventually both sides settled to play some entertaining rugby.

Strong forward play by the Monmouth pack, with Josh Reid, Owen Hughes, Morgan Brett, Rhys Longden and Ross Haines all carrying the ball well, saw Monmouth gain the upper hand. Space was created out wide and the fleet footed Ollie Vickers touched down for the first try of the tournament.

The forwards dominated a one sided second half with tries for Josh Reid, Owen Hughes, Ross Haines and the strong running Matty Kefalus as Monmouth ran out victors by 25 – 5.

The second game for Monmouth against a huge Tredegar side was a finely balanced affair. Monmouth failed to get the ball away from the bigger Tredegar pack and were quickly sucked in to a forward dominated battle.

After a series of drives, Tredegar took the lead early in the first half when one of their large forwards drove over the line. Eventually the Monmouth boys started to release their talented backs and Jamie Norman tied the scores with a side stepping run to the line.

On the stroke of half time, a crunching tackle by Charlie Gowling on one of the huge Tredegar forwards laid down the Monmouth gauntlet as they would not be steamrollered by the more physical side. The second half started in similar vein to the first with Tredegar keeping the ball in the forwards, which eventually paid dividends with another try.

Monmouth retaliated with a series of raids on the Monmouth line and Max Norman eventually crossed to draw the sides level in a bruising encounter.

The last game of the afternoon saw Monmouth play Gwernyfed. Monmouth needed to win and score five tries to be victorious in this mini festival.

Monmouth looked as if they meant business from the outset, with forwards and backs combining to produce some excellent free flowing rugby. Two tries each from Josh Reid and Jamie Norman saw the interval score 20-0 to Monmouth.

The second half was a much tighter affair and the Gwernyfed wing showed the Monmouth defence a clean pair of heels to race in from 50 metres.

With time running out, the elusive fifth try was slipping from the Monmouth grasp. However, Owen Hughes had other ideas. Ripping the ball from a maul, Owen broke clear to touch down for the fifth try to see Monmouth victorious. A great start to the season for the boys!