Cardiff contested the 1996 Heineken Cup final and Pontypridd the 2002 PARKER PEN SHIELD final.
Caerphilly go into the second leg of their PARKER PEN SHIELD semi-final against Petrarca Padova in front of the S4C cameras at Virginia Park on Saturday evening with an 18-point advantage from their first leg encounter.
But Ring fears that both home advantage and that lead could be threatened by injuries and a fixture congestion that sees them play unbeaten Welsh Premiership leaders Bridgend on Wednesday.
Ring is set to field a scratch side in midweek in a bid for that place in the final at the Madejski Stadium on Sunday, 25 May.
“It’ll be our Under-21 team, more or less,” said the former Wales fly half.
“We have been left with no option. The really sad thing is that although Bridgend beat us by a few points early in the season, it was a lot closer than that on the paddock.”
Ring’s injury and suspension list is a who’s who of Caerphilly rugby. Sione Tuipolutu, Joe El-Abd (both suspended) Holo Taufahema (leg) Sam Cox (shoulder), Richard Skuse (taken back by Bristol), Andrew Williams (AC joint) and El-Abd will all miss the crucial Padova match, while Luke Richards (ankle), Faeo Vunipola (knee ligament), Chris Ferris (knee ligaments) and Mark Workman (ankle) are all doubtful.
“The four second rowers we’ve got are all okay,” Ring said wryly.
