The Wizards are hot on the heels of the Drovers who go into this weekend’s round of fixtures with a slender two point lead. Llandovery have 52 points with Aberavon and Neath close behind, but Simon King’s side grab the runner up spot due to a superior points difference.
Aberavon recorded two major scalps over the festive season – an 8-16 victory away to Neath and a hard fought 18-7 home win over Pontypridd – to stay ahead of the more fancied trio of Neath, Pontypridd and Llanelli.
Both Llandovery and Aberavon have raised a few eyebrows in the Premiership this season with their displays as the usual suspects have slipped away slightly, but King is full of praise for all the sides which compete in Wales’s top club competition.
“Look back at the World Cup and you’ll find the vast majority of players playing for Wales have at some time played in the Premiership,” he explains. “It’s about time we gave the Premiership its due respect.
“It’s an indication of the strength in depth of the Premiership that sides like ourselves and Llandovery along with Cross Keys are competitive against the likes of Neath, Pontypridd and Llanelli.”
The Wizards will go to Church Bank gunning for revenge after Llandovery recorded a 25-29 smash ‘n’ grab raid in the second week of the season.
“We were leading 25-8 at one stage in that game,” recalls King. “But we threw away a winning position so that will provide us with plenty of incentive this weekend. But we won’t take anything for granted as they have a good coaching staff and have done extremely well with limited resources.”
