ARCH RIVALS SET FOR FINAL SHOWDOWN
THE biggest day out on the Road to Principality 2023 comes today, with three amazing finals. First up, something will have to give as Nant Conwy and Newbridge clash in the WRU Division 1 Cup final. Both teams have 100% records this season and are bidding for a league and cup double.
Nant Conwy lead Division 1 North with an unblemished record from 13 games, while Newbridge have picked up a bonus-point win in each of their 17 games to date in Division 1 East.
Newbridge will have almost 1,000 fans backing them at Principality Stadium as they bid to win their first major trophy since they topped the Unofficial ‘Western Mail’ Welsh Championship table at the end of the 1964-65 season.
The ‘Gogs’ from Nant Conwy will be making their second trip to the home of Welsh rugby having played in the WRU Plate final in 2012. On that occasion they went down 21-15 to Penallta.
They had an outstanding team in that era, winning the Division 1 North title in 2010 and 2013, as well as the North Wales cup in 2013, 15 and 16. Their road to this year’s final saw they pick up major victories at Division 1 West Central leaders Bonymaen (24-7) and on the road against St Peter’s, title candidates in Division 1 East Central, in the semi-final (23-22)
Another club hoping to stay on course for a league and cup double is Pontypool. Last at the Principality Stadium for the WRU Challenge Cup final in 1991, when they lost to Llanelli, they are currently level on 89 points at the top of the Admiral Championship with Neath.
They have two games in hand over their nearest rivals and have won all 18 league games as well as three cup ties. They face Ystrad Rhondda, who pushed them all the way at Pontypool Park in their league clash before going down 28-25 – the closest any team has come to beating Pooler this season.
For Pontypool skipper Scott Matthews it will be a chance to erase the memory of being in the Cross Keys team that lost to Pontypridd in the 2014 WRU Challenge Cup final. On the Ystrad side, exWales Sevens star Alex Webber will be hoping to inspire his club to the greatest day in their history as player/coach.
After the first two finals, the main event will be the WRU Premiership Cup final between arch-rivals Newport and Cardiff. The Black & Ambers beat Aberavon in last season’s final, while the Blue & Blacks triumphed in 2019.
Newport completed four wins over their rivals in a season for the first time in their history last term, while this winter it is 1-1 with both sides winning away from home. They have met three times before in cup finals, with Newport leading 2-1 to date.
“It’s going to be two top teams in peak form coming together on Sunday. Add in the extra historical spice of it being Newport v Cardiff and it has all the ingredients of being a great game,” said Newport head coach Ty Morris.
“Cardiff have been doing their best to make themselves the underdogs, but they are the reigning Premiership champions, won the cup in 2019 and are currently second in the league with a game in hand.
“We managed to beat them four times in the same season for the first time last season and just pipped them at the Arms Park earlier in the season. Some people might claim it is not the same fixture as it was in the old days before professionalism, but I see my players put in an extra 5%-10% in effort when they see a Blue & Black jersey.
“Most important of all is that the club enjoys its big day out. We learned a lot from our defeat to Merthyr in the 2018 cup final and were delighted to beat Aberavon in last year’s event.
“It was a day we’ll never forget and one we’d love to repeat this weekend. We’ve got pretty much a full-strength squad and most importantly we’ve got good momentum at the moment.”
There will be a sprinkling of current Wales U20 stars in the two sides with Cam Winnett starting at full-back for Cardiff, who also have outside-half Harrison James on the bench, while Newport include Wales U20 skipper Ryan Woodman in their second row, Harri Ackerman at centre and scrum-half Che Hope on the bench.
“It would be payback time for us following the four defeats last season, which included a semi-final loss in the cup, if we could beat Newport this weekend. We’re in good spirits as a side and we’ve picked up some good wins of late,” said Cardiff head coach Steve Law.
“There aren’t as many stand-out names as in the team that won the cup in 2019, but this is probably a better side at the moment. It’s a derby clash with our biggest rivals and it is going to be great. Looking back to 2019, when we beat Merthyr, both Ben Thomas and Max Llewelyn were in that side. Since then, they have gone on to represent the regional side, and I think we have more players in this team who could follow in their footsteps.”