Needing maximum points from their final two matches to overhaul Newport to finish first, the Drovers comfortably saw off Swansea 54-21 last weekend and then took down Bridgend 62-13 at Church Bank on Thursday night.
Having already won the WRU Premiership Cup, Euros Evans side are now two wins away from making it back-to-back Premiership titles after their final triumph over Cardiff at the Arms Park a year ago.
That means the only thing left to be decided of any consequence on the last weekend of the regular league season is can Merthyr overtake Pontypool to snatch fourth fifth place?
Merthyr, pipped in the cup final by Llandovery, went to Pontypool Park in midweek and won 29-26. That victory took them to within two points of Pooler, leaving their final places up for grabs this weekend.
While Merthyr head to Swansea, Scott Matthews takes his Pontypool team to Colwyn Bay to hopefully finish on a high against RGC. For the first time in a long time there will be no end of season silverware at the Gwent club, but Matthews is rightly pleased with the progress last year’s Championship ‘Invincibles’ have made back in the top tier.
Pooler will also be looking to avoid ending the season with three straight defeats. Leighton Jones’ men found themselves 24-0 down at half time against Merthyr, yet bounced back to bag two bonus points.
A win in the North will see Pooler complete a league double over RGC, having beaten the Gogs 30-16 at Pontypool Park earlier this month.
“I’m a massive believer in there’s always something to play for,” said Matthews.
“Everyone will have their different reasons to make it a big game up in RGC and, for some boys, it’ll be their last game and our last game as a group together.
“We’re a proud bunch and wear our heart on our sleeve; it doesn’t always work out for us, but what we can do is fight until the end and we’re certainly going to do that.”
The trip to RGC had originally been scheduled to take place back on 2 December, with Pooler subsequently deducted two points by the WRU Competitions Committee for failing to fulfil the fixture, which hit their play-off bid.
Asking if that will give Pooler’s players an added incentive this weekend, Matthews said: “As a playing group you look for any excuse to make things personal at times.
“It was certainly something that was mentioned in the home fixture, but it doesn’t have any bearing on the finishing position now and ultimately it’s a game of rugby between Pontypool and RGC – and it’s a game that both teams want to win.”
“It’s nice to get double wins over teams during the season and that’ll certainly be a goal of ours and for them it’ll be a goal to finish well at home.
“It definitely adds spice; it’ll mean a lot more to some than others, but as captain it’s not something that’ll I’ll be feeding upon, because I’ll find other ways to make it personal.
“Like I said everyone will have their own reason, and I think a good leader of a team will always try and find a way to make this game big in everyone’s head and make it personal. We’ll have our own ideas around that and hopefully the boys can start better than they did last night – and that’ll be key.
“RGC are a team that likes to throw the ball about and we know traditionally it’s always a hard game there and it’s something we’re looking forward to.”
Regardless of the result at RGC, it has still been an excellent return to the Premiership for last season’s Admiral Championship ‘Invincibles’ and double winners Pontypool.
They responded to an opening round loss against Newport by then reeling off seven wins on the bounce.
Two wins from the next eight matches followed either side of Christmas, but Leighton Jones rallied his troops and four wins from the next five kept their play-off hopes alive. However, they were ultimately denied by Cardiff’s late surge, and they were already out of contention before going down at Ebbw last week.
“I’m certainly proud of what we’ve achieved as a playing group,” Matthews added. “We win together. and we lose together and we’ve never hidden away from that.
“It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster season; we’re disappointed that we didn’t make the play-offs but just massively proud of the whole group.
“The growth of support we’ve had over the past four or five years has also been phenomenal, and the pleasing thing for me is the club is in a very positive state.”
