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Premiership in focus: Quins v Ravens

Premiership in focus: Quins v Ravens

Tom Grabham, Tom Habberfield and Moldovan forward Dimitri Arhip all start for Bridgend in their clash with Carmarthen Quins this weekend.

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The Ravens were edged out narrowly in their last game away to Bedwas and although they are missing a number of their National Academy players, head coach Ben Rose is boosted by the availability of the trio.

Habberfield starts at scrum half with Grabham on the wing but it is Arhip’s selection which provides the most intrigue.

The Moldovan signed a two year deal with the Ospreys earlier this season but features for the Ravens for the second time following his Boxing Day debut against Bedwas.

“This weekend we lose a number of our young Ospreys who are training with the National Academy,” confirmed Rose.

“We do have Tom Habberfield and Tom Grabham available while Dimitri Arhip is also with us. He’s rated highly by the Ospreys so he’ll be an asset to us.

“He plays anywhere across the front row and went well against Bedwas at tight head.

“He only speaks broken English but has slotted in well in training. We tell him what we want and he does it so we’re glad to have someone of his physical prowess in the side.

“He’s similar to all the Ospreys players we have, he will make a huge difference to the side.”

Rose’s side performed well against Bedwas though he knows his team face a difficult test against Quins.

“They are a good side and at this time of year it’s a real test of how tight you are as a group. We’ll find that out on Saturday,” he added.

“Lewis Williams managed the game very well against Bedwas and if a few things had gone our way we might have beaten the top of the table side.

“Hopefully we can replicate that form against Quins but we’ll have to be at our best to win.”

Carmarthen go into Saturday’s clash on the back of their best win of the season so far.

The recent wet weather may have hindered a number of teams from getting out on the park but there was no doubting the shock result of the Christmas period.

Facing a trip to Llandovery, Quins returned with a 12-3 win, Dan Newton’s four penalties securing a shock victory. And head coach Steve Williams is hoping to use the win as a springboard for 2013.

“It was a very good result for us. We’ve had a close couple of games with Llandovery in the past so it was good to finally get a win,” he said.

“We have been guilty of switching off against them in the past but this time we played for a full 80 minutes and got our rewards. We didn’t look like losing to be honest.

“We had a strong scrum and line out and although it wasn’t a day for throwing the ball around, when we did spread it wide we looked dangerous. It was a very solid performance.”

The win over the Drovers saw Quins move up to sixth ahead of Saturday’s visit of Bridgend – a clash Williams believes will be far from easy.

“It’s good to get back into the spring of things this weekend as we’ve had a bit of time off since the Llandovery game,” he added. 

“We are at bare numbers in terms of players but have been for a while and we can get a team out, that’s the main thing. 

“Bridgend have got a lot of players who have made the step up to regional level and look set to become future professionals.

“They’ve got plenty of pace and lots of tries in their backs so they’ll be dangerous.”

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