Cardiff aiming to take more silverware
IT may have taken a decade to pick up their latest piece of silverware, but according to newly appointed Cardiff skipper Morgan Allen the capital city club are eyeing up more silverware when they kick-off the Indigo Group Premiership tonight.
Having bridged a gap of 22 years between WRU National Cup wins last term, the Blue & Blacks will be hoping they can close the gap even more on reigning champions Merthyr in the new 12-team, newlysponsored Premiership.
The Ironmen made it a hat-trick of titles last season as they won with a six point cushion. But they lost to second-placed Cardiff and thirdplaced Pontypridd and could find themselves under even more pressure as they seek to match the achievements of Neath (2005-08) and Pontypridd (2012-15) in winning four in a row.
It is a tough start for everyone over the opening weekend. Cardiff host Pontypridd in a classic derby, live on Scrum V on BBC Wales, tonight (7.05pm kick-off), while Merthyr head north to Colwyn Bay on Sunday to face an RGC 1404 side now coached by Matthew Silva, whose former club Bridgend play at home to Aberavon tonight (7.30pm).
Carmarthen Quins and Llandovery have postponed their game, due to a clash with the Scarlets A fixture in the Celtic Cup, but there are two other big derby clashes with which to welcome the fans back to the season as Swansea host Llanelli and Ebbw Vale welcome Newport on Saturday.
There will be automatic relegation for the bottom side this season, while the top six will qualify for the cross-border tournament with the new Super-Six clubs in Scotland between April-June.
“There won’t be any easy games this season because there is quality in every team. Whatever people say about this league there are some very good players playing in it,” said new Cardiff skipper, Allen.
“We can’t afford another poor start and we couldn’t have had a tougher opener than playing against Ponty. It would be nice to win something once again this season and we have brought in some quality players and we are looking to step up.”