Cardiff looking to steady ship as Aberavon continue chase

CARDIFF need to get back on the horse to ensure their dreams of completing the league and cup double this season don’t start to evaporate after a third defeat in their past five Premiership outings.

RGC 1404 make the long trek south for tonight’s game at the Arms Park and Blue & Blacks coach Steve Law won’t want a repeat of last weekend’s 20-18 defeat at Aberavon.

That cut their lead at the top to seven points over Carmarthen Quins, with the Wizards one point further back. Jason Hyatt’s side have the luxury of another home game tonight when they host Llandovery.

Another Cardiff slip-up, and a 12th win of the season for Aberavon, and what at one stage was a 10 point lead could have virtually disappeared for the Arms Park outfit.

They are due to defend their Specsavers Cup title in the semi-finals against Carmarthen Quins later in the month, while Aberavon are preparing to meet Merthyr in the other semi.

“We knew that if we’d lost to Cardiff our hopes of catching them in the Premiership would have been over, but there is still all to play for at the moment. I’m delighted with the attitude of my players at training, and how they are performing, so we just need to keep on doing what we are doing,” said Hyatt.

“It’s another big game against Llandovery and we know they will present us with a big challenge. We are building towards an exciting end to the domestic season.”

Llandovery are currently in fourth place, just five points behind them.

They are looking to climb up the table and Euros Evans’ side have won their last three games and picked up four wins on the road already this season.

The other fixture sees Newport welcome Llanelli to Rodney Parade (8.00pm). The Black & Ambers have won four of their five league games this year and will go into the game on the back of a notable win at Sardis Road against Pontypridd in their last outing.