Neath, five times winners of the Cup and first-time winners in 1971/72, have made a few changes to the squad that won 33-18 in the League at Pontypool.
Added to the 22 that moved the Welsh All Blacks to within five points of the top of the table are winger David Evans, utility back Gareth James, hooker Andy Littlehales and young Abercrave forward Craig Price.
The last time Neath met Maesteg in the Cup was at the semi-final stage the season before last. Since then, of course, Maesteg have been relegated to Division 1 but Neath will not be under-estimating the Old Parish who can be relied upon to raise their game in front of what will be a good crowd as Neath’s army of fans enjoy the Cup and are expected to make the short journey.
Director of Rugby Rowland Phillips, said: “Last week’s victory over Pontypool was another important step for us as it is vital that we remain in touch with the leaders at the turn of the year. The boys have put in the hard work over the last couple of weeks and reaped the rewards but there can be no let up.
“We are all very excited about setting out on the Cup trail again and there was certainly a buzz about training this week. To be honest, every team treats their game against Neath as a cup final and we expect Maesteg will do so as well.
“Maesteg will pose similar problems to Pontypool. They have a proven Cup record and will undoubtedly be keyed up for this one as it is a chance for them to remind everyone of their pedigree. We always look upon Maesteg as a ‘first class’ club – it is a great rugby-producing town and we fully realise that we must match them in the attitude stakes.
“They have retained most of last year’s pack so they will have a strong set-piece and will contest the contact area in a do or die manner. We have quality in our squad but we know we will need to step up again from last week if we are to progress.”
Neath v Maesteg – .King, M.Nuthall, D.Evans, G.James, K.James, W. Mitchell, M.Jarvis, A.Thomas, M.James, K.Farrell, T.Knoyle; C.Mitchell, A.Howell, N.Downs, G.Price, A.James, A.Littlehales, E.Evans, N.Edwards, C.Price, L.Evans, J.Merriman, G.Gravell, L.Beach (captain)
