“Both sets of players know each other extremely well and there has been a lot of crossover between both clubs with players and coaches down the years,” said Phillips. “There has definitely been a bit more of an edge in training this week considering it’s a local derby.
“The players all want to get one over on their opposite numbers which is how it should be. We are expecting a very difficult game against Llandovery and form usually goes out of the window in these type of games.
“They have had a few results which haven’t gone their way and I assume they aren’t happy about that so they will be desperate to get some momentum back into their season. I think it will be a very good game of rugby and I just hope the conditions don’t dictate the outcome of the game.”
Quins are arguably the form side in the Premiership, but Phillips is adamant they can’t afford to rest on their laurels as they target catching up with Cardiff. He said: “Ultimately we can’t control what Cardiff do. We can only control the results we get, but of course it is important we keep on winning games.
“We can’t afford to be complacent and we must keep improving if we want to stay in contention going into the second half of the season. We’ve already played Cardiff twice and done fairly well against them, but we’ve got to back that up moving forward and that starts against Llandovery.”
Elsewhere, defending champions Merthyr will be looking to bounce back from their shock defeat to Swansea as they host eighth placed Newport at The Wern. Merthyr have been the dominant force in the Premiership over the past few seasons, but have been well off the pace this season languishing in fifth place.
Principality Premiership fixtures
Saturday February 22
Merthyr v Swansea (12pm)
Carmarthen Quins v Llandovery (1pm)
