When they met two seasons ago it was the home side who came out on top 19-3 in a mud bath. Pooler had won at Llanelli and Cardiff in the opening two rounds that season and then added the scalp of Carmarthen Athletic to their Premiership collection last season.
While Cross Keys, who had a bye in the first round, are struggling in the Premiership, they were quarter-finalists in the cup last year, semi-finalists for three seasons before that and finalists in 2014. They won the cup for the one and only time in 2012.
Pontypool, the 1983 cup winners, maintained their unbeaten run this season with a 18-16 win at Narberth last weekend to end a month of inactivity. They were given a walk-over in the first round when Neath scratched from their fixture.
“We were pleased to come away with four points at Narberth, who have always been one of our toughest opponents in the Championship, and our fitness levels didn’t become an issue during the encounter,” said Pontypool head of performance, Rhys Dyer, who was in the Keys team that won the cup in 2014.
“Having a four-week block without a game did present its challenges, but it was something I relished in my role as Head of Performance. I definitely view the period the players had away from the field as beneficial.
“It allowed them to rest their bumps and niggles and, just as importantly, it allowed the boys the chance to refresh mentally. It is no secret that this season is a big one for the club and the unintended break could well pay huge dividends come the business end of the campaign.
“We see each game as an opportunity to improve on our previous performance and that doesn’t change when we come up against Premiership opposition. The cup holds a lot of happy memories for the club and we will travel to Cross Keys on Saturday eager to do ourselves justice.
“It was great to see footage of the atmosphere at the Arms Park after the club beat Cardiff in the Cup in 2017. The atmosphere the travelling Pooler fans created during and after the game that night is something we will always remember.
“If something similar could be recreated on Saturday, I know it would inspire the boys.”
Reigning champions Merthyr will host Ebbw Vale at The Wern in a re-run of last season’s semi-final, which they won 10-6.
The 2017 champions, RGC 1404, will entertain Cardiff in a game that will give them the chance to avenge their 25-19 defeat at the Arms Park in the Premiership in early November.
“We have got a really tough fixture list at the start of the year and it is going to be a big second half to the season,” admitted RGC head coach Mark Jones.
“We’ve got a very young squad with an average age of 22. We lost some of our most experienced players from last season to the professional game, and you can’t always survive things like that, but the boys who have come in have been brilliant.”
RGC beat last season’s runners-up, Newport , at the Arms Park with a brilliant display in round one, while Cardiff were too good for Tata Steel. Currently in second place in the Premiership, Cardiff are keen to try to get their hands on silverware this season and skipper Joey Tomlinson is well aware it is 22 years since his club last won the cup.
“It is going to be a long day out, with a 7.00am start, but the cup is something we want to do well in because we haven’t won it for a while. It’s a tough fixture, but we have already beaten them once this season,” said Tomlinson.
Championship clubs Cardiff Met and Newbridge will get the chance to host Premiership sides, while Trebanos will have a big day out at Llandovery, who crushed another Championship outfit, Beddau, by 104-0 in the first round.
Cardiff Met will entertain Bedwas, while Newbridge welcome Bridgend. In the other fixtures, Swansea host Bargoed and there is a repeat of the finals of 2005 and 2002 finals with Pontypridd hosting Llanelli.
WRU National Cup – Round 2
Cardiff Met v Bedwas
Cross Keys v Pontypool
Llandovery v Trebanos
Merthyr v Ebbw Vale
Newbridge v Bridgend
Pontypridd v Llanelli
RGC1404 v Cardiff
Swansea v Bargoed
Round 2 Teams
Cardiff Met v Bedwas
Cardiff Met: Tom Benjamin; Brad Denty, Luke Northmore, Jack Wright, Zach Clow; Harry Johnston, Ellis Bevan; Dan Kennett, Shawn Howard, Harry Seward, Jac Arthur, Joe Jackson, Harvey Scott, Will Gibson, Aled Ward (captain)
Reps: Jack Samuel, Jamie Tucker, Luke Yendle, Tom Pearson, Dan Thurston, Laurie Essenhigh, Russ Bennett, Barrie Karea
Bedwas: Ben White; Jordan Rees, Connor Edwards, Lewis Bowden, Kane Teear-Bourge; Evan Lloyd, Rory Harries; Sam Cochrane, Alun Rees (captain), Chris Budgen, Gareth Allen, Jonathan Davies, Craig Hudd, James Richards, Dale Rogers
Reps: Mike Dacey, Brynley Toms, Owen Ford, Bradley Hill, Deri Mattravers, Luke Crane, Jacob Chilcott, Adam Williams
Cross Keys v Pontypool
Cross Keys: TBC
Pontypool: TBC
Llandovery v Trebanos
Llandovery: Gavin Thomas; Harri Doel, Corey Baldwin, Kristian Jones, Aaron Warren; Jack Maynard, Dafydd Land; Jamie Hughes, Matthew Moore, Llyr Green, Rhys Jones, Joe Powell, Emyr Price, Lewis Ellis-Jones, Richard Brooks (captain)
Reps: Dexter Thomas, Dean Howells, Jack Jones, Jordan Evans, Ricky Guest, Rhodri Jones, Ryan Evans, Tom Dew
Trebanos: TBC
Merthyr v Ebbw Vale
Merthyr: Matthew Jarvis; Terri Gee, Adam Thomas, Arron Pinches, Jay Baker; Gareth Davies, Rhys Downes; James Howe, Rhys Williams, Louis Jones, Pat McBride, Craig Locke (captain), Hemi Barnes, Osian Davies, Phil Rees
Reps: Matt Dwyer, Sam Hobbs, Joe Rees, Jarryd-Lee Davies, Jake Thomas, Justin James, Richard Powell, Lewis Williams
Ebbw Vale: Dan Haymond; Steff Thomas, Paul King, Dom Franchi, Toby Fricker; Rhys Jones, Dai Jones; Ross Jones, Rhys Francis, Rob Sevenoaks, Kristian Parker, Ashley Sweet (captain), Rhys Clarke, Lloyd Evans, Cameron Regan
Reps: Joe Franchi, Luke Garrett, Chris Coleman, Lewis Young, Owen Young, Matthew Flanagan, Dai Langdon, James Lewis
Newbridge v Bridgend
Newbridge: TBC
Bridgend: Tyler Williams; Geraint Roberts, Will Holley, Morgan Jones, Mike Powell; Ryan Evans, Connor Tantum; Ollie Evans, Owen Thomas, Neil Elworthy, Jack Pope (captain), James Little, Owain Lloyd, Joe Grabham, Matthew John
Reps: Iestyn Merriman, Owen Jordan, Garyn Daniel, Adam O’Driscoll, Dafi Davies, Cameron Jones, Chris Williams, Aaron Grabham
Pontypridd v Llanelli
Pontypridd: Ben Jones; Alex Webber, Cameron Lewis, Dafydd Lockyer (captain), Dale Stuckey; Ceri Sweeney, Joel Raikes; Cory Domachowski, Rob Jones, Gareth Smith, Shay Smallman, Chris Dicomidis, Lloyd Evans, Rhys Shellard, Alun Lawrence
Reps: Huw Owen, Geraint Clarke, Joe Popple, Rhodri Jones, Ross Morgan, Huw Rees, Alex Knott, Lloyd Rowlands
Llanelli: Ashley Sutton; Liam Smith, Ryan Davies, Jonny Lewis, Liam Hutchings; Ioan Hughes, Gareth George; Rhys Thomas, Greg George, Liam Tobias, Chris Long, Jake Baker, Joel James, Josh Weeds, Elliott Rees Reps: Callum Jenkins, Dylan Lawley, Ryan Thomas, Ashleigh Hyndman, Connor Ford, Declan Smith, Ben Atkins, Kieran Griffiths
RGC 1404 v Cardiff
RGC: Dion Jones; Iolo Evans, Tom Hughes, Danny Cross, Harri Evans; Billy McBryde, Efan Jones; Joe Simpson, Evan Yardley (captain), Sam Wainwright, Bryn Jones, Andrew Williams, Beau Williams, Will Bryan, Mei Parry
Reps: George Roberts, Curtis Reynolds, Jordan Scott, Robin Williams, Ilan Rowlands, Nicholas Butterworth, Sam Jones , Afon Bagshaw
Cardiff: Edd Howley; Tom Williams, Max Llewellyn, Adam Jones, Llywarch Ap Myrddin; Gareth Thompson, Martin Roberts; Thomas Davies, Joey Tomlinson (captain), Kieron Brown, Callum Bradbury, James Down, Sam Pailor, Zach O’Driscoll, Morgan Allen
Reps: Fraser Young, Ian Jenkins, Peter Lloyd, Kieran Martin, Tom Daley, Scott Gibson, Steffan Jones, Joe Gatt
Swansea v Bargoed
Swansea: Luke Griffiths; Ryan Griffiths, Gareth Rees, Mike Evans, Nathan Trowbridge; Steff Williams, Chris Morgans; Jack Powell, Ifan Phillips, Alex Jeffries, Sam Kiley, Jay Williams, Duane Eager (captain), Ben Davies, Charlie Davies
Reps: Paul John, Richard Murphy, Mitch Walsh, Matt Dodd, Jon Vaughan, Tom Ham, Josh Thomas, Andrew Claypole
Bargoed: Julian Mogg; Duane Dyer, Jordan Howells, Darren Humphries, Ashley Norton; Josh Prosser, Matthew Bancroft; Rhys Morgan (captain), Rhys Buckley, Alex Gardner-Key, Geraint Edmunds, Bryce Morgan, Louis Blacker, Callum Davies
Reps: James Leadbeater, Jack Bunyan, Calum Jones, Wade Langley, Gavin McDonnell, Grant Rogers, Keagan Bale, Michael Kavanagh
