Now head coach at National Championship club Beddau, Rees’ side came up with the upset of the first round when they beat Premiership side Bridgend at Mount Pleasant Park. Next on the agenda are Carmarthen Quins.
On paper, especially after their home, wet-weather thumping of RGC last week, the Quins should win comfortably. But having pulled off one giant-killing act, Beddau are up for the fight once again in Round 2.
“We know they are going to be strong and well drilled up front, but no team from the top-flight likes having to travel to play a team from a lower league on their own patch. Our fans will be out in force and it will be noisy and passionate on and off the field,” promised Rees.
“A bit of cup fever is just what you want in a village like Beddau, where there is such a proud rugby tradition. It is going to be a great day out for the fans and a wonderful experience for the players.
“My first Welsh Cup game was at Blackwood for Pontypridd quite some time ago, although even before that I can remember an Ebbw Vale team containing Kingsley Jones, Mark Jones and Dai Llewellyn, coming to my home town club of Tonyrefail to play.
“That was a great occasion for the club and the community and people still talk about it – just not the score!
“You know you are going to be in for a tough 40 or 50 minutes whenever you travel to somewhere like Mount Pleasant Park, then the fitness of the senior sides normally takes over. We’re ready to give it our all.”
The game comes shortly after Rees finished his Level 3 coaching badge with the WRU. On the same course was his former Scarlets and Wales colleague Emyr Phillips, now coach at the Quins.
Phillips was the first to move into coaching when injury ended his playing career prematurely, so in one sense the tables have been reversed from when Rees was the player who could boast the greater milestones.
“Emyr is into his second season at the Quins and is also doing more and more work with the Academy at the Scarlets,” says Rees, who won 60 caps for Wales and three for the Lions.
“He was certainly a hooker who I respected and now he is building a good reputation as a coach.
“Emyr and I were on the WRU Level 3 coaching course recently and now is the chance for us to put the theory into practice against each other.
“He was a really talented player who was unfortunate to get an injury that cut short his playing career just after he picked up a few Welsh caps.
“I know it is going to be a difficult task against his side and all I can hope for is another performance like the one we had against Bridgend. We put out a mixed team for that match, but the players simply rose to the occasion and did a great job.
“My coaching philosophy is pretty simple. I ask the players to work hard in the week so they can go out and enjoy themselves at the weekend – this week will be no exception.”
Rees played all the way through until he was 38 and is loving his new role in the sport. He did some early coaching with Pontyclun and Tonyrefail before spending the past two years of his playing days at the Blues, helping out with the scrum and forwards work at Pontypridd.
Now, with Tom Slater and Ben White as his assistants, he is in charge of the operation at Beddau and is also coaching the Blues U18 side. Then there is the ‘day job’ working alongside Rob Norster at Engage Sport, allied to some media work.
This week, though, is dedicated to beating Carmarthen Quins.
In beating Welsh Premiership side Bridgend, Rees and his new coaching team were able to make a statement that the Green and Golds are intent on building on their promotion from Division 1 East Central last season. Now, they want another Premiership scalp at Mount Pleasant Park, although Beddau’s league from has been patchy.
Phillips has already had one spying session at Beddau in the build-up to the game and knows full well that any team being coached and inspired by Rees is going to have to be taken seriously.
“I went up to Beddau to watch them and you can see they are a well-drilled and well-coached side. They are going to fly into us and the crowd will get behind them,” said Phillips.
“I always got on well with Matthew and it will be good to catch up with him after the match. But we are going there to win and we know we are one step away from a quarter-final and a good cup run.”
Cardiff Met head to Pontypool Park for the first of their back-to-back games against the National Championship title holders. This week it is the cup and next week, back in Cyncoed, it will be a league encounter.
This is always a tough time of the year for the students as they find themselves playing in the highly competitive BUCS Super Rugby competition as well as the Championship. And with the cup coming into the fixture schedule even earlier than normal it has added further pressure.
To add to their burden they lost a BUCS Super Rugby game at home to Durham University on Wednesday and have to welcome Leeds Beckett University to Cyncoed on Wednesday. That will be their 17th competitive fixture of the season.
Pontypool, meanwhile, will be fixing their steely gaze on reaching the quarter-finals of the Cup once again as they chase a dream trip to the Principality Stadium. They were last there in 1991 and have to go back to 1983 for their only cup triumph.
So, is it feasible for a Championship team to win the Cup and outdo the Premiership clubs? If they can get past Cardiff Met then Leighton Jones’ men certainly won’t fear anyone.
In the last three seasons alone they have beaten Cardiff, Llanelli, Carmarthen Quins, Bridgend and Cross Keys, and they reached the second round this season by beating Swansea 29-15.
You have to go back to 30 April, 2016 for Pooler’s last competitive defeat on their own patch and the only Championship defeat they have suffered since then was at Cardiff Met, 30-22, in the second half of the 2016/17 season.
“It’s always nice to play Premiership teams in the Cup, but Cardiff Met play a similar style to them. They are a decent team and they pushed us all the way in the league twice last season,” admitted Jones.
“They’ve always played a good brand of rugby, but they are also very well-drilled and they also front up. The days of taking it to them physically are gone – they may be students, but they give as good as they get.”
With seven bonus point wins in seven league outings, Jones is happy that his side has settled and is delighted to see them scoring more tries. The Cup competition has been the one to end the club’s unbeaten runs in the last three seasons.
Cross Keys lowered their colours, 19-3, in the last eight in 2016/17 in what was their 22nd match of the campaign. It then took the full might of Merthyr to do the same in the last two quarter-finals. They won 21-6 on 20 March, 2018 at The Wern in Pooler’s 19th game of that season and were 20-18 winners on their own patch last season in the 21st game for their visitors.
Merthyr welcome Bedwas to The Wern this weekend as they seek to build on their 39-19 first round home win over Pontypridd.
Two other former winners, Neath and Cross Keys, clash in what is now an all-Championship fixture at The Gnoll.
Cup holders Cardiff will welcome Ebbw Vale back to the Arms Park a week on from their 12-3 Premiership triumph in the rain this evening. Blue & Blacks head coach Steve Law is likely to ring the changes from last week’s young side and is keen to hold onto the trophy his team won against Merthyr at the end of last season.
Specsavers National Cup – Round 2
Friday, 8 November
Cardiff v Ebbw Vale
Saturday, 9 November
Beddau v Carmarthen Quins
Merthyr v Bedwas
Neath v Cross Keys
Pontypool v Cardiff Met
PREMIERSHIP
Newport v Bridgend
Byes: Aberavon, Llandovery, Llanelli
