Carmarthen Quins v Pontypridd – Match Preview
On Saturday 30th March Pontypridd RFC travel to play Carmarthen Quins at Carmarthen Park in the Indigo Group Premiership, the match kicks off at 2:30pm.
It’s nearly 18 months since Ponty travelled to the most westerly ground in the Welsh Premiership and the Valley Commandos will be hoping for a similar outcome this Saturday. Back on Thursday 13th October 2022 tries from Dale Stuckey and Jordan Howells accompanied eleven points from Joseph Scrivens’ boot to seal a close-fought 21-15 win. A win against the Quins tomorrow would complete a season’s double for Ponty against the West Walians following a 29-20 win earlier this season at Sardis Road. On Thursday 23rd November last year Curtis Greenslade and Liam Lloyd dived over for tries in front of the S4C cameras whilst Josh Phillips kicked 19 points with the boot.
Pontypridd currently sit in 5th position in the Premiership table knowing full well that they have to win this Saturday to have any hope of leapfrogging Cardiff into 4th place come the end of the season. Earning the win at Carmarthen Park will be a tough task against a Quins side who are always formidable opponents on their own patch. They may currently sit in 12th position in the table, having lost four out of their last five league matches but all of those four losses have been within 6 points of the opposition.
THE TEAM NEWS…
Again, changes to the starting XV have been kept to a minimum, although there are three this week while another three new faces have joined the matchday squad via the bench.
In the backline Liam Lloyd comes in to start on the right wing having made his return to action from the bench last week after his injury lay-off.
In the pack Mitch Barnard is recalled to start and will partner Macauley Cook in the second row, Macauley skippers the side this week. Cai James is also drafted back into the starting line-up at blindside flanker.
On the bench there are returns to the matchday squad for Joel Raikes, Louis Rochefort-Shugar and Gavin Parry. Gavin returns to the squad having been capped by Scotland U20s in their recent Six Nations campaign.
Still unavailable through injury are Dale Stuckey, McCauley Rowley and Tom Devine whilst Aled Ward is away on leave.
The Pontypridd team selected to play Carmarthen Quins is as follows:
15. Josh Phillips. 14. Liam Lloyd. 13. Garyn Smith. 12. Ryan Wilkins. 11. Tom Edwards. 10. Ben Burnell. 9. Harvey Nash.
1. Ben Stephens. 2. Rob Jones. 3. Tom Harper. 4. Mitch Barnard. 5. Macauley Cook (c). 6. Cai James. 7. Cally James. 8. Joe Miles.
Subs: 16. Gavin Parry. 17. Kian Mattravers. 18. Morgan Bosanko. 19. Kristian Parker. 20. Sion Parry. 21. Joel Raikes. 22. Joseph Scrivens. 23. Louis Rochefort-Shugar
SUPPORTERS TRAVEL –
The Pontypridd Supporters Club are organising transport to the match and parking around the Quins’ ground can be very tricky so booking onto the supporters bus is highly recommended. The bus will leave the usual place at the Sardis Road Clubhouse at 11:00am ahead of the 2:30pm kick-off and will depart one hour after the final whistle. To book a seat on the bus to Carmarthen please call Phil Lycett on 01443 662561.
For those Ponty Fans making your own way to the ground, the address for the Quins clubhouse, which is next to the ground is – Morfa Lane, Carmarthen, SA31 3AX.
