Wizards target a place in cup final

ABERAVON have targeted a place in the Premiership Cup final after a blistering start to the season.

The Wizards have won six of their opening seven fixtures and currently sit at the top of the western conference. While there is a lot of rugby still to be played head coach Jason Hyatt insists his players are motivated by the prospect of potentially running out at the Principality Stadium in the final.

“With this being a cup competition and the final being at the Principality Stadium there’s a huge incentive for us there,” said Hyatt.

“We want to be competitive, but we’ve also got an eye on development.

“There’s a lot of quality in this team which has made things easier. Our aim is to finish in the top two and then hopefully progress into the knockout stages.

“We want to be in the mix for honours. We’ve had a really good start to the season which is something we really targeted having been out for 18 months.

Hyatt has assembled a strong squad at Aberavon with a number of former professional players such as Joe Thomas, Nicky Thomas, and Aled Thomas supplementing some of the brightest young prospects in the Ospreys region.

“We are always trying to get a balance,” he said. “When we played Swansea, Rhodri Lewis came in for his debut and became the youngest player since we’ve been semi-pro to represent Aberavon at 17 years and two months.

“Having someone like Rhodri Cole there and Aled Thomas at 10 is great for his development. We’ve also got Dan Edwards at 10 who is another 18-year-old

“We are trying to get the blend right that when we do introduce players, we put good experience around them.”

With Llandovery only two points behind them on the table the Wizards know they have to keep on winning and face a tough challenge this against Bridgend today

Elsewhere in the western conference, Carmarthen Quins host Swansea, while Llandovery will be strong favourites to beat lowly Llanelli. In the eastern conference Cardiff played Ebbw Vale last night.

Today, both Pontypridd and Merthyr need a win to keep in touch with the top half as they meet at the Wern, while Newport host RGC 1404.