It will be win or bust for Carmarthen Quins and Pontypool this afternoon when they meet in their Super Rygbi Cymru play-off eliminator (2.30pm).
The winners of today’s clash at Carmarthen Park will set up a quarter-final showdown at regular season table toppers Cardiff next Saturday, while the season concludes today for the side that loses.
Quins, who finished the regular SRC season in seventh, wrapped up their league campaign by defeating Ebbw Vale 12-8 to also deny the Steelmen top spot. It was their first league win since Boxing Day and a winless run of five matches since then had seen Quins slip out of the top six.
Meanwhile, despite finishing bottom of the table, rejuvenated Pooler will go in all guns blazing. They backed a stunning win over Llandovery in their final home match with an equally impressive display at Newport – only narrowly going down 31-29.
It’s one win each in meetings between the two sides this season. Quins were 24-12 victors over Pooler at Carmarthen Park on 27 September, while the Gwent side produced a stirring second half comeback in the return fixture at Pontypool Park a week later, battling from 21-3 down to edge that contest 24-21.
“We’re under no illusions; it’s going to be a tough old battle on Saturday,” said Quins director of rugby Steff Thomas. “In fairness to Pontypool, I think the league position belies the way they’re performing at the moment.
“I watched their game against Newport and thought they were very, very unlucky not to come away with the result. The brand of rugby they played was good as well and they scored some cracking tries.
“But from our perspective, we’ve prepared well. We had a good win last week, which was a real confidence booster. Ebbw came down and by no means rolled over; they were fighting for the league and the stakes were high – so it was a great win for us and a first-class performance.”
Ahead of today’s clash, Pooler head coach Tom Hancock says there is no pressure on his men as they seek to extend their season.
“The players are excited to back up the level of performance that has seen us be more than competitive in previous weeks,” he said.
“Carmarthen will start as favourites – as their league table finish suggests – and they had a good win against Ebbw last week at Carmarthen Park, which is always a tough place to go.
“For us there is no pressure, just excitement really, to upset the form book and put in a performance that we can be proud of.”