NOVEMBER

The Welsh efforts to finally overcome a Southern Hemisphere super power dominated November with Wales getting three cracks at their nemesis’ during a thrilling Autumn series.

The month ended in glory for Wales with only a second ever victory against South Africa, a win that ensured it was a successful autumn for Warren Gatland’s men.

The month had started with the same old frustration against one of the southern hemisphere big guns with Australia triumphing yet again in Cardiff.

The Wallabies, who are in Wales’ group of death along with England at the World Cup, made it 10 successive victories against Sam Warburton & Co.

The hosts led 28-27 when they powered over for a penalty try in the final quarter only for the Aussies to steal the spoils thanks to the right boot of Bernard Foley.

It was level-pegging at 21-21 after a thrilling first half that saw scrum-half Rhys Webb, wing Alex Cuthbert and lock Alun Wyn Jones cross for Wales and full-back Israel Folau (2) and Tevita Kuridrani power over for the tourists.

The second half was a tighter affair but the Aussies deservedly triumphed thanks to a drop goal and penalty by fly-half Foley.

Next up was a clash with Fiji and it proved to be a forgettable one.

Wales triumphed 17-13 but were awful, coughing up possession with alarming regularity. Were it not for their dominant driving lineout then the Islanders, who played the final half hour with 14 men following prop Campese Ma’afu’s dismissal for two yellow cards, could have been celebrating another upset.

Wales’ tries came from wings George North and Cuthbert but they failed to score a single point in the second half.

They were always likely to up their game against New Zealand in week three but an excellent hour-long display wasn’t enough to stun the All Blacks.

Wales went toe-to-toe with the world champions with skipper Warburton leading from the front with an immense display in the back row.

Webb scored in between Julian Savea and Jerome Kaino crossing and a Leigh Halfpenny penalty earned a 16-15 lead with 13 minutes left.

But Wales had nothing left in the tank and the All Blacks racked up the points in the closing stages thanks to tries by Beauden Barrett (2) and Kieran Read.

That left Wales with a win-or-bust finale against the Springboks, who headed to the Millennium Stadium on the back of a defeat to Ireland and victories against England and Italy.

The right boot of Halfpenny proved to be the difference in a tense and incredibly physical encounter.

The full-back’s peerless kicking helped secure a 12-6 triumph yet in the closing stages it looked like Wales were going to throw it away again.

Scott Williams dropped the ball over the dead ball line to gift the Springboks an attacking five-metre scrum but Wales shunted the visitors back to cause replacement scrum-half Francois Hougaard to go into a panic, Taulupe Faletau to snaffle the ball and Dan Biggar to clear.

In truth it was an ugly game but few cared. After 22 failures on the spin to the big three Wales deservedly triumphed exactly six years after they had beaten the Wallabies.

For the Newport Gwent Dragons it was very much a similar story to October as they saw an almost entirely gloom-filled losing month punctuated by a shocking and thrilling victory, this time over the Ospreys in the LV=Challenge Cup.

The Dragons would have been long odds ahead of the trip to Brewery Field but ended four-years of hurt against the Pro12 leaders, with an incredible 51-35 triumph.

However, defeats at Ulster (23-6), Harlequins (31-21) and Glasgow (agonizingly only 19-15) and a home reverse to Munster (38-12) meant it was generally another unhappy month for Lyn Jones’ men.

For Newport County AFC it was another month of progress in League Two as they again went a full calendar month without league defeat, Newport drawing 2-2 at Hartlepool after being two up, drawing 2-2 with Exeter after being two down and securing splendid away victories at Carlisle and in particular Bury, scoring three goals on both occasions.

However, it was another month of squad change with Joe Pigott, Scott Tancock and James Loveridge all returning to their parent clubs. The Exiles also bowed out of the FA Cup, losing 4-2 at Kenilworth Road to Luton Town in the first round.

The Exiles also staged a historic first FA Youth Cup contest in 14 years as the youngsters at Rodney Parade continue to impress, as they did on the night when Mike Flynn’s side were highly unlucky to lose 5-4 to MK Dons, after extra time.

However, it was to be another fine month for Welsh football generally as the national side produced their best result in ions as they stunned World Cup quarter finalists Belgium in Brussels, holding them to a highly competitive 0-0 draw. That maintained the Welsh momentum and increased the belief that they can and will qualify for the 2016 European Championships.

However, it wasn’t all good news for Welshmen on the world stage as Nathan Cleverly was defeated by his hated rival Tony Bellew in Liverpool.

Cleverly was exposed as not being big enough for the cruiserweight division in a fight that proved a huge letdown after such an effective hype job.

DECEMBER

THE year ended on a high for both Newport Gwent Dragons and Newport County AFC as the county’s premier teams racked up the wins and climbed their respective tables.

The Dragons enjoyed a superb 100 per cent record in December, starting with home and away wins against Bucuresti Wolves in the European Rugby Challenge Cup.

And Lyn Jones’ men took that form into the Guinness Pro12 as they beat Zebre at Rodney Parade before hanging on to enjoy a rare derby win over Cardiff Blues.

The 23-17 success on Boxing Day was the Dragons’ first win in Cardiff since 2003 and more than made up for injuries to star men Taulupe Faletau and Ashley Smith earlier in the month.

After enjoying two weeks off at the start of the month as a result of their early FA Cup exit, County earned three wins out of four.

Justin Edinburgh’s men saw off Stevenage and Plymouth Argyle at Rodney Parade and enjoyed a fine 1-0 win at Cheltenham to climb to fifth in League Two.

Off the field it was a mixed month for the Exiles with Byron Anthony forced to retire through injury and Andrew Hughes’ season ended by a serious knee problem.

But there was also good news as Mark Byrne agreed a new contract and Edinburgh secured the return of goalkeeper Joe Day for a club record fee from Peterborough United.

It was also revealed that former Wales international Darcy Blake was training with the squad again and he looks set to rejoin the playing staff in January.

Also this month Wales rugby star Dan Lydiate returned from his brief stay playing in France with Racing Metro but he opted for the Ospreys rather than a move back to the Dragons.

There was a big boost for Dragons youngsters Hallam Amos and Tyler Morgan, however, as they signed National Dual Contracts with the WRU.

And it was a merry Christmas for Cross Keys who took the Gwent derby spoils against Newport in a mud bath at Pandy Park.

Former Keys hooker Gerwyn Price hung up his rugby boots to concentrate on his new darts career and put up a creditable display in defeat to world number five Peter Wright in the PDC World Championship at Alexandra Palace.

There were mixed results for Gwent’s top boxers in December with St Joseph’s star Gary Buckland suffering defeat in the semi-final of the lightweight Prizefighter tournament at London’s York Hall.

Newbridge’s Bradley Pryce was beaten in Poland but there was joy for Cefn Fforest fighter Robbie Turley as he won his British super-bantamweight title eliminator against Jamie Speight.

Away from the ring, former super-middleweight and light-heavyweight world champion Joe Calzaghe announced the creation of the Joe Calzaghe Boxing Academy and also offered to train his former protégé Nathan Cleverly.

And the year ended with Emperor's Choice just getting the better of Benvolio in a thrilling tussle for the Coral Welsh Grand National at Chepstow.