Pontypool kicked off their season full of hope and underlined their considerable potential with an opening night 43-41 win at home over reigning Super Rygbi Cymru champions Llandovery.
But after that bright start things have got harder for Pooler. They were beaten 50-38 at home by Bridgend and then lost 43-5 to Cardiff at the Arms Park.
Round 3 at least saw them get back to winning ways with a 31-26 home win over RGC, but their trip to the fast track at Llandovery’s Church Bank this weekend could be another long day at the office with the home side hell bent on avenging their opening day defeat.
“We back ourselves against anyone at Pontypool Park and it was easy to get for playing the champions in a TV game first up. But the challenge for us now is to get up for all the other games,” said Pontypool skipper Scott Matthews.
“Bridgend shocked us and they really got stuck into us. In this competition you can’t view any week as being easier than the last.
“We play on different pitches against teams who play different styles. The challenges vary week to week, but we have to remain consistent.
“We got a win over RGC and we’ve changed our mentality a little bit and taken more ownership as a group of players for our performances. We need a better set piece and quicker ball for our backs.
“As the late great Ray Prosser used to say, ‘the forwards should take as much physical contact as possible, so the backs have to take as little as possible’. We’ve got some really good players in our back line and we need to set them free.”
The Drovers will have three Scarlets players in their back line in Isaac Murray-McGregor, Tomi Lewis and Gruff Watkins, as well as Kai Jones up front. They beat Aberavon 66-21 on home last weekend as they continued their recovery from defeat at Pontypool Park.
After that they were trounced 46-26 at Church Bank by high-flying Newport before pipping Bridgend 29-26 just before their win over the Wizards.
Newport lead by a point from similarly unbeaten Cardiff after four rounds and head north to face RGC in Colwyn Bay today. The Black & Ambers beat the Gogs 34-21 on the opening day of the season and since then have won by 20, 40 and 28 points as they chase the title they won in the inaugural season of SRC in 2024-25.
Cardiff remain hot on their heels with four wins out of four and will be looking to extend their winning streak when they welcome Carmarthen Quins to the Arms Park. Their triumphs to date include a statement 59-14 win over Ebbw Vale at Eugene Cross Park last weekend.
On the strength of his two tries in that game, and a host of other top-drawer performances at SRC level, former Wales U20 full back Matty Young has been elevated into the Cardiff regional side to face URC champions Leinster in Dublin tonight. His place is taken by Ben Coomer, with Lloyd Lucas joining Sion Davies at half-back.
“We had a great performance last week against Ebbw Vale and want to build on that. We had a tough game against the Quins away in our first game of the season and they beat us here last season,” said Cardiff head coach Dan Fish.
“We want to make sure that doesn’t happen again. We know what threats they pose, and we have worked hard this week on nullifying them – if you don’t turn up each week and put the effort and game plan on the field, you will come away with a loss.”
Swansea are still chasing their first win of the season and will host Ebbw Vale in another tough test today as they return to their spiritual home of St Helen’s. It will be the first game played at the revamped venue, which has an artificial pitch
The Steelmen have Wales international Cai Evans on duty for them at outside half but there is still no sign of their captain Sion Parry after he picked up an injury playing for Canada in the Pacific Nations Cup.