Newport and Llandovery among opening Super Rygbi Cymru winners

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Image caption, Aaron Warren of Llandovery is tackled by Pontypool's Joel Mahoney

Double-winning Llandovery began Welsh rugby's revamped second tier with a 21-18 Thursday night victory at Pontypool to launch Super Rygbi Cymru.

Llandovery鈥檚 llan Phillips crossed for the first try in the competition before Taylor Davies extended their lead.

Two Mathew Powell tries after the break gave Pooler a narrow lead but ultimately three Jack Maynard penalties secured the win for the Drovers.

In Saturday's games, Newport got their 150th anniversary season off with maximum points against Bridgend in a 41-22 win - making Super Rygbi Cymru history in doing so.

The Black and Ambers' 19-point margin of victory saw them become the first side to earn an extra bonus point, with the WRU announcing SRC will trial a new bonus point system in which there will be an extra point on offer if teams win by 15 points or more.

It secured Newport the full six points on offer after they ran in six tries against the Ravens to secure what, in the end, was a comfortable win.

Wales Under-18s wing Tom Bowen scored a sensational hat-trick on his debut to fire Cardiff to a 32-25 victory in Colwyn Bay over RGC.

Dewi Cross and Joe Goodchild also scored tries for the visitors while Harri Wilde and Osian Darwin-Lewis added further points from the kicking tee.

Sam Stoddard, Sam Williams and Tal Taylor scored tries for RGC but it wasn't enough to overcome an impressive Cardiff side.

Ebbw Vale kicked off their campaign with a 34-22 bonus-point home victory over Aberavon.

Joe Franchi, Ethan Phillips, Ewan McIntyre, Ryan Gardner and Jon Evans claimed tries for the Steelmen. Aberavon scored three tries of their own courtesy of Connor Moyse (twice) and Scott Delveno.

Elsewhere, Carmarthen Quins kicked off their season with a hard-fought 39-29 victory over Swansea. The Whites started the game strongly with tries from Lewis Edwards and Ryan Jones but Quins hit back with tries from Lewis Morgan and Gethin Davies.

Second-half tries from Josh Helps and Lewis Millin secured victory for the hosts but late scores from Geraint Powell and Callum Dodd ensured Swansea left with a losing bonus point.

The new 10-team competition has replaced the old 13-club Indigo Premiership.

The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) says the aim is to bridge the gap between age-grade and regional rugby, providing academy players with higher standard matches and more frequent playing opportunities.