Pontypridd v Merthyr – Match Preview
On Saturday 22nd March Pontypridd RFC play Merthyr RFC at Sardis Road in the Admiral Premiership with a 2:30pm kick-off.
We are now at the stage of the season where all matches are big in terms of importance, and it doesn’t get much bigger than Saturday’s Valleys Derby. It’s first versus second, Valley Commandos versus The Ironmen, two of the most successful clubs in the semi-professional era of the Premiership – it’s game on!
The two teams met earlier in the current campaign on Saturday 9th November 2024 at The Wern, and a late rally from Ponty wasn’t quite enough as Merthyr held on for a 28-25 win. The last Valleys Derby at Sardis was just over a year ago on Thursday 14th March 2024, and it was Ponty that enjoyed a narrow three-point win by 25 points to 22 that evening.
Pontypridd will be looking to bounce back following last Friday’s defeat away at Bonymaen. Two bonus-points extended the team’s lead over Merthyr to six points at the top of table, but The Ironmen now have two games in hand. The Valley Commandos will be looking to get back on the winning trail after just their second defeat of the season against Bony, and in the process they will be looking to extend their unbeaten home run at Sardis Road – the last time Ponty suffered a defeat at home was the 29th February 2024 – pob lwc bois!!
The Team News…
There are five changes and three positional switches to the XV that started last Friday’s match at Parc Mawr, as well three new faces on the bench.
In the backs there are two changes to the starting line-up, they are Dale Stuckey on the left wing and Jaydan Pugh at flyhalf. Dale’s recall has triggered three positional switches – Ioan Evans to 12, Garyn Smith to 13 and Stuart Floyd-Ellis to 14.
There are three new faces in the pack, two of them coming in the front row. There are recalls for Ben Stephens and Rob Jones, the other change is Lloyd Riley who comes into the blindside flanker berth.
On the bench the new faces are Ben Drew, Will Jameson and Rhys Emmott. Will is on permit from Cardiff and Rhys is on permit from Llantwit Fardre respectively. Unavailable for selection are Cai James who is injured and Joe Davies who is on leave.
The Pontypridd team selected to play Merthyr is as follows:
15. Oli Shepherd. 14. Stuart Floyd-Ellis. 13. Garyn Smith. 12. Ioan Evans. 11. Dale Stuckey. 10. Jaydan Pugh. 9. Joel Raikes.
1. Ben Stephens. 2. Rob Jones. 3. Morgan Bosanko. 4. Mitch Barnard. 5. Kristian Parker. 6. Lloyd Riley. 7. Cally James (c). 8. Joe Miles.
Subs: 16. Jeff Young. 17. Ben Drew. 18. Garyn Daniel. 19. Will Jameson. 20. Rhys Emmott. 21. Lucus Welch. 22. Aled Evans. 23. Louis Rochefort-Shugar.
SUPPORTER INFORMATION:
Tickets – Admission on Saturday will be £12 full, £10 concession access-all-areas and under 16’s free if accompanied by a paying adult. You can purchase tickets on the day or to save time (which is recommended to miss the queues) you can use our online e-Ticket system, here’s the link which includes all our different packages – Pontypridd v Merthyr – 22/3/2025
Supporter access is via the Clubhouse end of the ground only.
Live Sport In The Clubhouse – Our Clubhouse will be from midday onwards and we will be showing a mixture of live rugby on our screens throughout the afternoon – Saracens v Harlequins (3:05pm) and Bristol v Exeter (5:30pm) in the Gallagher Premiership, and Scarlets v Stormers (3:00pm) and Ospreys v Connacht (5:15pm) in the URC.
Make sure you pack out The House Of Pain this Saturday #PontyFans
