It won’t be easy as newly promoted Ebbw Vale have won both their opening matches pipping Llandovery at home and coming from behind to win at the Gnoll against Neath.
Newport on the other hand, having played last season’s top two league sides Carmarthen Quins and Pontypridd, have suffered two heavy defeats. Rivalry between these sides has always been intense – none more so than in recent years.
The last time the sides met in the league was back in 2009/10 when the Black and Ambers completed the double.
For Ebbw Vale’s last win we have to go back to 2007/8 when Ebbw Vale narrowly won two closely fought matches. The Premiership record between the two clubs (Newport first) is P30 W20 L10.
Interestingly four of Ebbw Vale’s wins have come since regional rugby was set up in Wales which perhaps tells a tale. A crowd of 6,000 turned up for the last match before regional rugby at Rodney Parade on May 17th 2003 which Newport won convincingly 61-9.
The crowd would certainly have been higher except for the weather and the counter attraction of the football Cup Final. These matches drew big crowds in years gone by – there was even 15,000 at Rodney Parade for a mid-week floodlit friendly match (then record for floodlit match in Wales) but that was in the heady old days of Wales Club rugby before Regional rugby.
Newport: G O’Driscoll, J Morris, J Murphy, D Franchi, J Lewis, M O’Brien, A Quick, D Pattison, D Rogers, J Monck, Adam Brown, A Frampton, B Lampitt, O Griffiths (capt), S Feehan.
Replacements : W Evans, L Jenkins, A Jeffries, D Partridge, R Jenkins, O Davies, B Nightingale, J Mogg.
