O’BRIEN IS CONFIDENT BANCROFT WILL BE UP FOR THE CHALLENGE
MATT Bancroft has been handed the biggest responsibility of his rugby career by filling in for Newport skipper Matt O’Brien at No 10 in the Indigo Premiership playoff semi-final.
O’Brien will be on the beach in Dubai by the time his team takes the field at the Arms Park today to battle arch-rivals Cardiff for a place in the final.
The 23-year-old Bancroft joined at the start of the year from Pontypridd and has only played four times at outside half for the Black & Ambers.
The Dragons academy coach and Newport captain had already rescheduled his family holiday once before the Premiership season was extended for the second time due to the bad weather suffered throughout the campaign.
That left him with a terrible decision to make – let down his family or miss the semi-final? If Newport make it through to the final, he may be able to return in time for next Sunday’s showdown with either Llandovery or Merthyr.
“It has been an incredibly difficult decision to make, but I couldn’t just cancel the holiday.
“We’d already moved it once and we have to fit in with the time I get off in the close season at the Dragons and my wife’s job.
“There was simply no time left to take the holiday. It’s going to be difficult not being there, but I still think we’ve got enough in us to win in Cardiff.”
Ironically, Cardiff, who beat Newport in the WRU Premiership Cup final two weeks ago and who finished top of the table in the regular season, will also be missing their talisman at No 10. Dan Fish broke a bone in his wrist in last weekend’s win over Merthyr and is out of Sunday’s semi-final and the final if required.
“It might be a better game without us,” quipped O’Brien, “there’ll probably be more running and less kicking.
“Dan has been important for Cardiff all season, but they have a Wales U20 cap in Harrison James to come in to replace him.
“I have full faith in Matt Bancroft being able to deliver in my absence.
“This has been an incredibly competitive season and the four best teams in the league have made the play-offs.
“Any one of them could beat the other and I think we’ve got as good a shot as anyone of winning the title.
“After a poor start to the season we targeted fourth place to get into the play-offs and we’ve had a great run to get there.
“Last weekend’s win over Llandovery showed we are in good form, and we’ll go to the Arms Park full of confidence.”
Last season Newport completed a full house of four wins in a row in the same season against their arch-rivals for the first time since 1879. They backed that up with a last-gasp, 18-17 triumph in the Welsh capital thanks to an O’Brien drop goal.
A Dan Fish inspired Cardiff just managed to overhaul Newport to win the cup final with a wonder try from Joe Goodchild and all the signs are that the re-match at the Arms Park (kick-off 5.15pm) will be just as close, especially with Fish ruled out with aa broken wrist.
“It is very much a 50-50 game, and we know exactly what Newport will be bringing, with or without Matt O’Brien. Every game against Newport has been close this season,” said Cardiff head coach Steve Law.
“They have been in great form of late, as have we.
“We’ve proved to be a difficult side to beat and the players are eager to end their season on a high.
“We won the title in our last game last season against Merthyr and now we have the possibility to go one better by making it a league and cup double this time around.
“A number of young players have developed over the course of the season and worked their way into the side, and this will be a huge opportunity for Harrison James to show what he can do.”
CARDIFF: Cam Winnett; Joe Goodchild, Ioan Evans, Arron
Pinches, Dewi Cross; Harrison James, Tom Habberfield; Marc Thomas, Alun Rees, Scott Andrews, Sean Moore, Ethan Phillips, Ellis Thomas, Nathan Hudd, Morgan Allen (captain)
REPS: Rhys Barratt, Evan Lloyd, Freddie Barnes, Mackenzie Martin, Lucas De La Rua, Ethan Lloyd, Ryan Wilkins, Dafydd-Rhys Tiueti NEWPORT: Ioan Davies; Jon Morris, Chay Foster-Smith, Joe Westwood, Elliot Frewen; Matt Bancroft, Dafydd Buckland; Thomas Davies, Henry Palmer, Nathan Evans, Craig Hudd, Ryan Woodman, Rhys Jenkins, Josh Reid, Ben Roach (captain)
REPS: Jack Gillard, Tom Workman, Luke Yendle, George Young, Kyle Tayler, Che Hope, Geraint O’Driscoll, Carwyn Penny