The Ospreys feeder cup know they need to start winning quickly if they are to stay in contention in the WRU Championship Cup. They have been boosted by availability of highly rated Ospreys academy wing Cian Abraham, and Brynaman pair Gareth Drewson and Thomas Powell.
But the Fera are under no illusions of how difficult it will be against a strong Narberth outfit. “We are expecting a big challenge against Narberth who will likely have a few boys on permit from Llanelli playing for them,” said Ystalyfera Rugby Manager Damian James.
“We expect a really tough game but Ystalyfera is a tough old place to come and play as Pontypool found out last year when they won by two tries in the last five minutes. I think we’ve put a lot of onus on ourselves and we’ve built a really strong culture with a squad made up of mostly local boys.
“We’ve had a very good pre-season and everything looks pretty relaxed. We had about eight boys missing last weekend against Quins but we’ll be stronger this weekend.
“We’ve got a good squad out and we’ve got a couple of the Ospreys under 18s academy wing Cian Abraham playing for us as well. We are hopeful of getting a result against Narberth. Our target is to win as many of these cup games as we can but ultimately we want to end up around mid-table in the Championship.”
Elsewhere, Bargoed will be hoping to build on last weekend’s win over Bedwas as they travel to face former Wales wing Morgan Stoddard’s Cross Keys, while Cardiff Met face Beddau. In Group Four Neath will play their first competitive fixture of the season, following last week’s postponement against Tata Steel, with a tough away clash at Maesteg Harlequins.
Meanwhile, Ystrad Rhondda’s home clash with Glamorgan Wanderers has been postponed with five players on the away side self-isolating as a precaution having come into close contact with a Coronavirus case.
There is also a massive derby clash in the Bowl with Llandaff hosting arch-rivals Llandaff North. This is Llandaff’s 145th anniversary and they had a full clubhouse for last weekends British & Irish Lions test against South Africa having been visited by Sky Sports and Scott Quinnell. They are also expecting a huge crowd this weekend to celebrate the opening of their new £100,000 dressing rooms.
WRU Championship Cup fixtures
Saturday, August 13
Cross Keys v Bargoed
Cardiff Met v Beddau
Maesteg Harlequins v Neath
Ystalyfera v Narberth
