Table-topping Cardiff will have revenge in mind when they head to the Brewery Field looking to stay ahead of the pack in Super Rygbi Cymru.
When they last visited Bridgend they were beaten 27-19 in the SRC Cup competition. That was the first time the Ravens had beaten Cardiff at home since 2017.
But the latest encounter comes in the business end of the SRC campaign, with Cardiff hoping to remain ahead of Ebbw Vale to finish top and bag a home draw in the play-off section. For Bridgend, the battle is to retain the sixth place that guarantees an automatic play-off place.
Scott Baldwin’s side face a tricky run in as they hope to hang on to their five point lead over Carmarthen Quins in seventh. After Cardiff, they play both the Quins and Llandovery.
“We’ve played one Cup match down there this year and come off on the losing side with them scoring in the last play of the game. So we’ve got a few wrongs to right,” said Cardiff skipper Sean Moore.
“They will always keep pushing you for the full 80 minutes, so we can’t afford to switch off during the game and allow them any easy points. It’s been a great squad effort to take us to the top of the table so far, but we want that top spot come the play-offs with three big games left which aren’t going to be easy.”
Dan Fish has picked four Wales U20 players in his back division – Tom Bowen, Harri Wilde, Steffan Emanuel and Elijah Evans – and has Wales international Mackenzie Martin continuing in the second row.
Ebbw Vale will be putting up the SRC Challenger Shield for the sixth time when they host Carmarthen Quins. The Steelmen are currently five points behind Cardiff with a game in hand.
With six points now available from every game it won’t just be a question of winning the final three games, but scoring four tries and trying to build up a 15+ gap in the scoreline as the race to the finish line heats up.
Llandovery won’t want to allow Aberavon to creep back in the game in the way they did the last time the two sides met. That was in the SRC Cup at the Talbot Athletic Ground when the Wizards hit back from a huge deficit to close the gap to 40-33.
The Drovers are currently in third place, seven points behind Ebbw Vale, and want to keep ahead of Newport in fourth. The Black & Ambers are only a point adrift as they head north to face RGC in Colwyn Bay.
Pontypool bounced back from their Gwent derby defeat at Newport to pick up five priceless points in a 41-31 win over Swansea on Thursday night.
The Whites scored three first half tries through Iwan Temblett, Tom Edwards and Cameron Jones to lead 21-10 on the cusp of half-time, but found themselves leading by only a point at the actual break.
Having eased into a 10 point lead, Pooler staged a fightback in added time at the end of the opening 40 minutes and picked up a second penalty from Kieran Meek and a try from replacement hooker Connor Chapman to go with Lewis Robey’s fourth minute score to make it 21-20.
Three more tries flowed from the home side through Marcus Jones, Scott Matthews and Ieuan Jones before Swansea picked up a bonus point try at the death from Will Austin