THE early ending to the Premiership season denied Gwent speedsters Ewan Rosser, Elliot Frewen and Jonny Morris the chance to chase down Dale Stuckey at the top of the try charts.
The Welsh Rugby Union cancelled all of their competitions because of the coronavirus outbreak with leaders Cardiff frustrated in their bid to win the top-flight title and Bridgend relieved to avoid the drop.
There was also a premature end in the tussle to be top points scorer and leading try scorer, with teams having differing numbers of fixtures still to play.
RGC fly-half Billy McBryde was leading the way in the points chart with a figure of 163 that featured six tries.
The former Wales Under-20s playmaker was 40 points ahead of Cardiff counterpart Gareth Thompson while Ebbw Vale utility back Dan Haymond was on 119 after a strong campaign for the Steelmen.
Newport still had seven games to go, meaning Matt O'Brien could have climbed the chart by improving his 105.
The race to be top try scorer was shaping up to be a cracker and showed there is more than one way way to skin a cat – winger Stuckey was only one ahead of Carmarthen Quins hooker Torin Myhill, who reaped the rewards of hitting his man at the lineout and guiding the well-drilled drive.
Rosser (pictured above) made a flying start to the campaign with Ebbw before heading off for Wales Under-20s duty with six tries to his name while a pair of familiar faces led the way for Newport on five scores.
Elusive winger Frewen took his club tally to an impressive 71 in 184 games while livewire Morris, who moved from the flank to midfield, had crossed three times in five fixtures since the turn of the year.
The 27-year-old, who also coaches Newport Saracens, has scored 41 times in 112 outings since moving to his hometown club from Newbridge and on Monday it was confirmed that he is staying at Rodney Parade.
The first batch of re-signings also featured fellow stalwarts Rhys Jenkins, O'Brien and Geraint O'Driscoll.
Top points scorers
163: Billy McBryde (RGC)
123: Gareth Thompson (Cardiff), Diggy Bird (Pontypridd)
119: Dan Haymond (Ebbw Vale)
118: Aled Thomas (Aberavon), Jack Maynard (Llandovery)
105: Matt O'Brien (Newport)
99: Owen Howe (Bridgend)
88: Matt Jarvis (Merthyr)
77: Steffan Marshall (Carmarthen Quins)
Top try scorers
8: Dale Stuckey (Pontypridd)
7: Torin Myhill (Carmarthen Quins), Rhys Tudor (RGC), Afon Bagshaw (RGC)
6: Billy Mcbryde (RGC), Phill Jones (Swansea), Jonathan Evans (Carmarthen Quins), Ewan Rosser
5: Nathan Hart (Llanelli), Chay Smith (Aberavon), Alex Everett (Cardiff), Thomas Habberfield (Cardiff), Ashton Evans (Aberavon), Aaron Warren (Llandovery), Elliot Frewen (Newport), Sam Jones (Merthyr), Teri Gee (Cardiff), Tom Hughes (RGC), Harri Evans (RGC), Jonny Morris (Newport), Alex Webber (Pontypridd), Dewi Cross (Bridgend)
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