The Newport squad, coaches and everyone involved with the club will be glad to get back into action following the postponement of the last two games. The two victories against Ebbw Vale and Swansea had given the team some momentum and there was a buzz around the camp with everyone looking forward to the visit of Llandovery and the trip to Merthyr. Although the weather caused the postponements at least we didn’t suffer the severe damage to facilities that some of our local clubs suffered.
Our hard-working fixture secretary now has to fit in Carmarthen and Llandovery to the very busy Rodney Parade schedule and has to agree a new date for the visit to Merthyr.
Pontypridd are sitting in fifth place in the league with a solid record of nine victories from sixteen games. They have adapted well to their artificial pitch and play a fast, open game and score plenty of tries. This type of game should suit the Black & Ambers and we could see a very attractive game despite the conditions.
Newport: Lewis Smout, Matt Dwyer, Louis Jones, Andrew Mann, Joe Bartlett, Rhodri Jones, Kyle Tayler, Rhys Jenkins (Captain), Luke Crane, Matt O’Brien, Elliot Frewen, Tom Pascoe, Jon Morris, Harri Lang, Geraint O’Driscoll.
Replacements: Dan Preece, Jamie Jeune, Garin Harris, Josh Reid, Morgan Burgess, Geraint Watkin, Hayd Simons, Ryan Gardner.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse
AR1: Jason Morris
AR2: Neil Perkins
Kick off: 2:30 PM