The Gogs will be hoping to take momentum from last weekend’s National Cup win over Newport against an Ebbw side who are fourth in the Principality Premiership table. And former Scarlets prop John is hopeful they can avenge September’s 19-12 home loss to the Steelmen.
“Against Newport we got off to a good start and we need to do the same against Ebbw Vale,” said John.
“We created chances, took most of them but I feel we still left a few tries out on the pitch, getting turned over in Newport’s 22m line, so we focused on that in training this week.
“It doesn’t matter if it is the cup or the league we are looking for good performances, so it needs to be more of the same at Ebbw Vale. We brought a few off the bench to get some game time in the 2nd half last week, and with us only being at the halfway stage in the league the squad becomes important.”
Elsewhere Pontypridd will be hoping to bounce back from their New Year’s Day defeat against Cardiff as they welcome Aberavon to Sardis Road. Ponty are eight points behind league leaders Merthyr and head coach Justin Burnell is confident they can get back into the title race.
“We are back at Sardis Road this weekend which is a big thing for us especially with our partisan crowd,” said Burnell.
“We’ve played 17 league games and scored 87 tries so for us it’s about putting a marker down at home and playing the style we want to play. Aberavon are a good side and were in the fight against Merthyr right up until the death.
“They play a very similar style of rugby to us and they have some exciting players. Any side that can push Merthyr that hard are going to be very difficult to beat. They have a strong pack but there’s also a lot of football in their back division.”
Saturday sees Llandovery, who racked up over a century of points against Beddau in the cup last weekend, welcome struggling Bedwas to Church Bank while Merthyr are strong favourites to consolidate their position at the top of the table with a home clash against Llanelli.
Cross Keys will be hoping to take advantage of crisis club Neath as they travel to the Gnoll with Carmarthen Quins expected to comfortably beat Bargoed. One of the fixtures of the round sees Cardiff face off against arch rivals Newport at Rodney Parade.
The Blue and Blacks are third in the table just one point behind Pontypridd and are riding high after their New Year’s Day win. Tenth place Swansea host Bridgend at St Helen’s.
Friday:
Ebbw Vale v RGC1404 (7:10pm)
Saturday:
Carmarthen Quins v Bargoed (2:30pm)
Merthyr v Llanelli (2:30pm)
Neath v Cross Keys (2:30pm)
Newport v Cardiff (2:30pm)
Swansea v Bridgend (2:30pm)
Llandovery v Bedwas (2:30pm)
Pontypridd v Aberavon (5:15pm)
