Their 19-9 win at lowly Maesteg Quins may have been one of their narrowest wins of the season, but it still extended their lead at the top of the table to 11 points. They also have games in hand over their major title rivals.
This season’s champions will get a shot at securing Principality Premiership status by playing-off for the 12th and final place in the new, slimmed down league for 2019/20 against the team that finishes in 11th place.
Pooler have shown they can mix it with the teams in the league above them in recent seasons with some remarkable performances in the WRU National Cup. On 23 March they will get another shot at one of the Premiership club when they host Bridgend in a quarter-final clash.
That will be their next outing, while the rest of the Championship sides continue with their league programme. The big fixture that day sees fourth place Narberth host Ystrad Rhondda, who are in second.
As it stands, they are the only two teams who can now stop Pontypool from winning the title. Pooler lead with 77 points with six games to go, while Ystrad are on 66 with three games to play and Narberth are on 63 with four to go.
The most points Ystrad can get are 81, while the Otters can reach 83. Cardiff Met, in third, have two games left and can reach a maximum of 74 points.
It is Cardiff Met who host Pontypool on 30 March in what will be the final fixture for the students. Pontypool will be well aware that it was at the Cyncoed Campus two years ago they were beaten for the only time in the 2016/17 season, 30-22.
If Narberth fail to win this weekend it means Pontypool will go to Cardiff Met knowing they need only to win with a bonus point to hold onto their title – with five games left to play. But they will have to improve on their performance against the Quins.
Two penalties from Owen Howe gave Maesteg Quins a surprising 6-0 lead, but they were pegged back when Jordan Thomas crashed over for the game’s opening try. Quins’ Lee Ronan and Pooler’s Rob Nash were both shown yellow cards as tempers started to flare, but once the rugby resumed it was the visitors who took control with star winger Lloyd Lewis putting the Gwent side ahead for the first time.
Thomas added his second score of the afternoon shortly after with Matthew Jones supplying both conversions. Howe kept Quins in the game with his third penalty after the break, but they were again reduced to 14 men when replacement Andrew Healy was sent to the sin-bin.
Dean Ronan was given the same treatment moments later as discipline continued to cause problems for the hosts and leaders Pooler managed to see out the win. Their hard-fought victory was made even better following Ystrad Rhondda’s shock 18-17 home defeat to relegation-threatened Rhydyfelin.
Sion Summers and Corey Shepherd added to a penalty try for Ystrad, but it proved only enough to claim a losing bonus point as the Village edged them out, boosting their own survival hopes in the process.
It was a good day for Cardiff Met as they beat Narberth 29-21 to leapfrog them into third place, just two points behind Ystrad. Chris Lewis, Barry Karea, Ellis Bevan and Dan Kennett all crossed for tries for the students, while Harry Johnston wrapped up the bonus-point victory with three conversions and a penalty.
Narberth hit back with tries from Kieran Jones, Yannik Parker and Jake Jenkins, which were all converted by Jonathan Rogers.
Elsewhere, Newcastle Emlyn remain rooted to the bottom following their narrow 15-13 defeat to Beddau. Newbridge are not out of danger after losing 15-12 to Tata Steel, while the mid-table clash between Trebanos and Bedlinog saw the former emerge as 24-13 victors.
WRU National Championship – 23 March
Bedlinog v Cardiff Met
Maesteg Quins v Newcastle Emlyn
Narberth v Ystrad Rhondda
Newbridge v Beddau
Rhydyfelin v Tata Steel
