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Young Wary Of Newport

Young Wary Of Newport

New Cardiff coach David Young is not a man to get carried away. Two wins on the trot in Pool B of the Celtic League might have lifted the gloom at the Arms Park, but he is taking nothing for granted ahead of this weekend’s Welsh inter-city challenge at Rodney Parade.

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Newport may have lost four in a row at the start of their campaign, but Young believes the Black and Ambers are getting closer to breaking their duck.

“I was hoping that Newport would win in Connacht because that would have eased the pressure on them a bit. They are a lot better team than their results suggest and someone is going to cop a hiding from them when they get things right,” said Young.

“I just hope it doesn’t happen against us. They will get it right sooner rather than later because they have got quality coaches, quality management and quality players.

“If we can expand on the 20 minutes we put in around half-time against Leinster then we will be more than a match for anyone. There are still things we need to get going, but at least we are winning now rather than losing.

“Our goal is to try to improve as individuals and as a team in every game.”

Newport, meanwhile, are hoping to have outside half Jason Strange fit to resume as the home side try to stem a run of seven defeats in the last eight games against their oldest rivals.

The first game between the two clubs was played on the Newport marshes on December 2, 1876. The game ended in a victory for Newport by two tries, 13 touchdowns to two touchdowns.

That was the first game ever played by Cardiff and on Saturday night the two teams will meet for the 396th time. Newport charged 6d entrance fee for that first time and a crowd of 200 turned out for the game, providing gross takings of £5.

The two clubs differ in their interpretation of the results of matches down the years. Cardiff claim to have played in 388 first-team matches (Cardiff 191 wins, Newport 139, 58 draws) while Newport claim 394 competitive outings (Cardiff 191, Newport 143, 60 draws).

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