The Black and Ambers suffered a heavy loss against Pontypridd last weekend but Warlow is confident they can challenge last season’s defending champions. “To win at The Wern you have to get parity in the scrums, negate their driving line out and then it is easy,” said Warlow.
“We played very poorly against Ponty and we can’t afford the same level of performance against Merthyr. I don’t mind us making mistakes, but what does concern me is the ability to catch and pass and to give it to someone in a better position than you.
“That is fundamental if you want to stress defences and we didn’t do that and we showed selfish tendencies which we can’t afford against a side of Merthyr’s qualities. But a trip to Merthyr is perfect for us because they are the benchmark and it will force us to be better.”
Elsewhere fourth placed Aberavon face RGC1404 who are a mere three points behind them in the table. The Gogs are fresh off the back of an impressive bonus point victory over Llanelli and will be confident of climbing up the table.
Bargoed welcome Ebbw Vale in a local derby while Cross Keys face Llandovery at Pandy Park. Llanelli will be looking to drag themselves up the table by beating Bridgend at Parc Y Scarlets.
Second place Pontypridd will be looking to keep the heat on top of the table Merthyr as they travel to Carmarthen Quins. Burnell insists his side must keep the pressure on Merthyr by claiming their third win in a row in west Wales.
“It is a bit too tight at the top, to be honest,” said Burnell.
“Lose one game and you can slip down the table. We lost to Merthyr a few weeks back but we did well to bounce back to beat Llandovery and Newport.
“This is a massive game against Carmarthen Quins. It is always a tough place to go and we can’t afford to slip-up.
“If we can put in a good performance down there and get another win, we’ve then got two games at home and we could find ourselves right in the mix.
“Hopefully, we can keep on winning and open up a bit of a gap. Then we’ve got Cardiff to come on New Year’s Day. It will be nice if we can stay in second and they can stay in third – that would make it a really big game, but we won’t be thinking about that one yet.”
