The two teams go head to head in Cardiff tonight
When it comes to Ben Coomer, you needn’t bother stress how much of a springboard the Welsh Schools and Colleges final at the Principality Stadium can be for a young fly-half.
Last year, the Ysgol Cymoedd outside-half had a front-row seat for a virtuoso display from Carwyn Leggatt-Jones as Llandovery College ran out 72-19 victors. The prodigious Leggatt-Jones, unsurprisingly, was named player of the match – the second time he’d managed that feat in a WSC final.
Coomer finds himself back in the final at the national stadium this time around, but without the prospect of going up against Leggatt-Jones.
Those ghosts were laid to rest recently, with Cymoedd twice beating Llandovery this season to book their place in the final.
“I met Carwyn last week as well in the semi-final,” said Wales U18s fly-half Coomer of his age-grade team-mate. “He’s a top player.
“We’re obviously good friends, but when we’re on that field, I love playing against him because Carwyn has that hype. Everyone probably believes he’s the best at our age in that 10 jersey.
“Whenever I play against him, all I want to do is prove everyone wrong. I’ve come out on top in a couple of games this season.”
Leggatt-Jones, tipped as an international in the making, has gone on to make his senior debut for the Scarlets in recent weeks after turning out for Carmarthen Quins.
Coomer, a Wales U18s team-mate of Leggatt-Jones, is also highly-rated in Welsh rugby circles. This season has already seen him feature off the bench for Cardiff RFC in Super Rygbi Cymru, meaning the two fly-halves could soon be going up against each other once more.
“Obviously as a 10, you’re one of the main players on the pitch,” he adds. “It’s not the flashy stuff you do, but how you conduct your team and manage them around the pitch.
“That’s what Carwyn does well, he’s a very good leader, but I feel I can do that as well.”
Certainly, Coomer showed that in last year’s semi-final, with a 19-point haul to down Ysgol Glantaf in a rip-roaring 49-46 encounter.
It’s Glantaf that Coomer will go up against in an all-Cardiff affair on Wednesday night.
“After the pain and embarrassment of last year’s final we have become such a tight knit. We are ready to go on Wednesday night,” said Coomer.
“Last year’s final became a bit a story about the battle between the two No 10s with me and Carwyn Leggatt-Jones. I let that get to me a bit and I just tried to beat him.
“I think, especially after the game against Glantaf where a lot of things were coming off for me, I expected some sort of hype around me and Carwyn. He’d played for Wales age-grade before that and was man of the match in the previous final.
“So it was going to be built up, but I maybe didn’t realise how much build-up it would get. I learned a lot from that.
“I wanted to win that one-on-one battle, but he was playing more for the team. In a 15-a-side game, if you want to play on your own, you’re in the wrong sport. I’ve learnt from that.
“He played more of a team game and was man of the match again, so I’ve learned about trying not to take things on by myself. Individually, I’ve matured over the last year.
“Now I know how to manage matches much better and it will be great to play at the Principality Stadium in front of another good crowd.
“For most of us it will be the last time we wear the Cymoedd jersey. We are passionate about pulling on the jersey and we intend to show that in the final.”
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