Cardiff RFC will play their last home game of the 2023/24 season at the Cardiff Arms Park as they take on the Ironmen in a must-win game. It will also be head coach Steve Law’s last home game as coach of The Blue and Blacks.
After, pure domination against Carmarthen Quins last time out, Luke Pollock scored a hattrick, Dewi Cross crossed twice and Morgan Allen, Harrison James, Joe Williams, Alun Rees, Harri Wilde, Tom Rice all scored once as The Blue and Blacks recorded their biggest win of the season.
The men from up the A470 last time out, fell short of lifting the WRU National Cup as Llandovery recorded a 20-18 win at the home of Welsh Rugby. Merthyr were scheduled to travel to the Cardiff Arms Park last December but due to Cardiff Rugby hosting Bath Rugby in the Investec Champions Cup the fixture was switched around.
When The Blue and Blacks travelled to The Wern, that day saw winger Dewi Cross score twice with one of them being a near length of the field team try. Also on that occasion, Nathan Hudd, Jacob Lloyd, Arron Pinches and Kodie Stone all scored as Cardiff recorded a 45-22 bonus point win.
The last time these two met at the Arms Park was back at the start of the 2022/23 Indigo Premiership campaign as The Blue and Blacks recorded another emphatic 50-15 bonus point win over the Ironmen. Both Joey Tomlinson and Tom Habbefield crossed the whitewash twice as did Marc Thomas, Morgan Allen, Joe Goodchild and James Beal.
In fact the last time Merthyr won away to The Blue and Blacks was November 2021 in the Indigo Premiership Cup, when the Ironmen crossed the whitewash on seven occasions as they recorded a 45-29 bonus point win.
The last time Merthyr won in the league at the Arms Park was back in 2018 in the Principality Premiership where tries from Jay Baker and Kyle Evans proved to be the difference as they recorded a 24-18 win.
Player Chat:
Scrum-half Joe Williams has scored on five occasions this season for The Blue and Blacks and I caught up with him before Saturday’s encounter.
On the Quins win he said: “We were pleased to come away with a convincing win.
“We said going into the game that our job was to come away with 5 points and we achieved that.
“We were happy to be ahead at half-time, and to have kept them to zero was a bonus.
“One of the messages was that there was some tidying up to do, and we definitely left some scores out there early on.
“We needed to focus on being clinical when we got into good attacking areas, and be patient there too.
On the opponents for The Blue and Black last home game of the season, Williams said : “We know there’s a lot riding on this weekend’s game.
“The boys are excited for the challenge, which you can always guarantee in a fixture against Merthyr.
“They’re coming off the back of a tough loss in the cup and will want to bounce back from it, so we have got to be up for a tough encounter,” he added.
On the whole playoff scene, Williams insisted: “We know a win on the weekend will secure us a playoff spot, and that’s a prospect that excites us.
“Ultimately we can’t get too ahead of ourselves and look too far ahead, we need to produce a strong 80 minute performance and get a win on the weekend first,” he concluded.
Team News:
Both Tom Habberfield and Arwel Robson replace Joe Williams and Harrison James who drop to the bench.
Within the front row Steve Law makes one change which sees Christian Brooke replace Adam Williams at tight-head. Lucas de la Rua returns into the starting XV as Craig Hudd relocates to the second row in replacement of Ethan Phillips who drops to the bench.
After pulling out of the XV last time out Arron Pinches comes back into the lineup to face his former club and joins Luke Pollock to complete the centre partnership. Dewi Cross switches wings with James Beal as Matty Young remains at fullback.
Cardiff RFC Lineup:
15 Matty Young
14 James Beal
13 Luke Pollock
12 Arron Pinches
11 Dewi Cross
10 Arwel Robson
9 Tom Habberfield
1 Rhys Barratt
2 Alun Rees
3 Christian Brooke
4 Sean Moore
5 Craig Hudd
6 Lucas de la Rua
7 Nathan Hudd
8 Morgan Allen ( c)
Replacements:
16 Gavin Parry
17 Eddie Drake
18 Freddie Barnes
19 Ethan Phillips
20 Tom Rice
21 Joe Williams
22 Harrison James
23 Jason Harries
Words By Harry Tovey
HTSPORTSNEWS 