ROACH AIMS TO END LONG TITLE WAIT
NEWPORT skipper Ben Roach hopes a little bit of X factor will help Newport make it third time lucky and win the club its first league title since 2004.
The Black and Ambers are on a run of seven bonus-point wins in a row and sit second in the Indigo Premiership.
Their latest win was earned in monsoon conditions at Merthyr where they picked up another five points following a 31-15 success.
Newport are, as a minimum, looking to cement second spot and a home play-off semi-final, but Ty Morris’ men haven’t given up hopes of overhauling leaders Llandovery yet.
They may sit 15 points behind the champions but, crucially, have two games in hand with the two sides set to lock horns at Newport Stadium at the end of next month.
Newport have gone close in the past two seasons, but former Wales Sevens international Roach hopes this could be their year.
“Obviously everyone’s tough in this league but I think we back ourselves in the way we’re playing at the moment,” he said.
“We’re fronting up as forwards and getting across the gain line, but we’ve got some X factor in the backs as well.
“We’ve got the belief as Newport that we can get to the top level. We’ve been close the last two years and it would be the next step for us.
“It would also be massive leading into our 150th anniversary next season.”
Henry Palmer’s hat-trick inspired Newport at a rain-lashed Merthyr, with the hooker crashing over twice in the first half and again just after the restart.
Centre Chay Foster-Smith secured Newport’s bonus point with try number four on the hour, with centre Jon Morris rounding off a five-star performance with another try in the closing stages.
Fly-half Matt O’Brien converted three of the five tries.
Hooker Liam Wiggins and lock Callum Bradbury crashed over either side of the break for Merthyr. Fly-half Josh Lewis improved the latter’s try, having kicked a penalty in the first half.
Newport head coach Morris said: “We go into games obviously aiming to win. I think the way we play, we’re attack-minded, we’re always going to try to score as many points as we can.
“But even in conditions like this, we’re showing teams that we can win in different ways.
“We’ve had that ever since I’ve been there. It’s in our DNA to play that brand of rugby.”