Llandovery captain Cerith Rees is looking forward to his side’s British & Irish Cup debut against fellow Welsh outfit Pontypridd.
“It’s unchartered territory for us really and we want to do justice to ourselves and our town. We had one of our best ever seasons last year in qualifying for the British & Irish Cup, but we lost a lot of players in the summer and it’s not going to be easy,” said Rees.
“However, we’re not going to throw anything away and starting with Saturday. It’s a massive game for us and we want to do well. We did quite well against Pontypridd last season, beating them in our home league match but they are a quality outfit and we will need to be on top of our game from the off.
“These are exciting times for Llandovery, I’m sure a lot of the teams won’t even know where the town is but we are looking forward to welcoming the likes of Doncaster here and to travelling to places like Ayr in Scotland.”
Pontypridd’s Ryan Harford says his side are desperate for silverware this season, starting with the British & Irish Cup, won by Cornish Pirates last season.
“We are as strong as I’ve experienced in eight years at the club, this is our best chance yet of delivering some silverware to our fantastic fans. We are unbeaten in the Principality Premiership but we have to start with a win at Llandovery on Saturday,” said Harford.
Currently out of action with a broken arm Harford insisted the British & Irish Cup is helping to raise the standard of Welsh semi-professional rugby.
“Playing sides like Doncaster Knights, Worcester and Munster who have played at a higher level helps you to set your own goals and if you can match those sides it gives you confidence in your ability.
“It would be great to reward our fans. They are really the 16th man in our side, they come everywhere with this including a large contingent that came to Ayr last year and they truly deserve a trophy this season.”
Llanelli kick off proceedings with a trip across the water to Waterford tomorrow to play Munster.
Captain Craig Hawkins said: “This game is one of the games we are most excited about this season. For the younger players to travel away from home to play Munster in front of 4 or 5000 people will be a great learning curve. Even the older players who have had to take a day off work with the support of their employers are really looking forward to it as an experience that may not come around again.
“I think the supporters are in for an entertaining game as both teams like to play rugby. We competed well in this competition last season but were stretched due to injuries and we are hoping to go one step further and progress to the quarter-finals this season.
“Players are seeing that if they play well for us, there is the opportunity to step into Nigel Davies’ Scarlets squad – we have seen that with Scott Williams and Gareth Davies already this season and others could do the same such as Dan Newton, playing for us tomorrow and No 8 Ben Morgan, who is having an outstanding start to the season with six tries in the bag already.”
Newport, the strongest Welsh team in last season’s competition, welcome Leinster to Rodney Parade on Sunday (2.30pm).
The Black and Ambers came the closest of the Welsh sides to qualify for last season’s semis but went down to eventual winners Cornish Pirates in the last round of pool games.
Head coach Sven Cronk hopes that experience will give his side heart ahead of this campaign, saying: “We felt we were a bit unlucky not to beat Cornish Pirates last season but we can’t look back, we have to use that to build towards this season.
“We wholeheartedly embrace this competition and we’re looking forward to getting started against Leinster who are a mix of young academy players and experienced Leinster players.
“This competition is certainly a step-up for us, you get limited scoring opportunities that you have to take and your defence needs to be spot on too.
“We have a number of injuries at the moment but we have been strengthened this week by some Dragons squad players such as Lewis Evans, Adam Jones and Nicky Griffiths and we know the Dragons management will be watching the game to see who performs well.
“The addition of the quarter-final stage means two teams can qualify from each group which is an extra incentive for all participants.”
These weekend’s Round 5 matches were scheduled for the weekend of February 26 but brought forward to avoid clashing with RBS 6 Nations fixtures.
All other clubs in the competition enter on the weekend of December 11 with the regular Round One fixtures.
British & Irish Cup Round 5
Friday, October 15, 2010
Pool B Munster v Llanelli 19:30 Waterford Regional Sports Centre
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Pool C Swansea v Ulster 14:30 St Helen’s
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Pool D Llandovery v Pontypridd 14:30 Church Bank
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Pool A Newport v Leinster 14:30 Rodney Parade
About the British & Irish Cup
Teams
* 12 English RFU Championship clubs (Bedford Blues, Birmingham & Solihull & Solihull, Bristol Rugby, Cornish Pirates, Doncaster Knights, Esher, London Welsh, Moseley, Nottingham Rugby, Plymouth Albion, Rotherham Titans, Worcester Warriors)
* top 6 Welsh Principality Premiership clubs (Llanelli, Llandovery, Neath, Newport, Pontypridd, Swansea)
* 3 Irish provinces – Munster, Leinster and Ulster Ravens
* 3 Scottish teams – top 3 finishers in Premier 1 (Ayr, Currie and Melrose). The Gael Force team will no longer continue.
Pool Stages
* 4 pools of 6 playing once (5 matches/rounds)
* 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 bonus point for either a) scoring 4 or more tries or b) losing by 7 points or less
Quarter finals
* top two in each pool progress to knockout stage
* pool winners have home advantage
Semi finals and final
* four winning quarter finalists progress to semi final draw
* winning semi finalists progress to final
Pools
Pool A: Cornish Pirates, Currie, Leinster, Newport, Plymouth Albion, Worcester Warriors
Pool B: Bristol Rugby, Esher, Llanelli, Melrose, Munster, Nottingham Rugby
Pool C: Bedford Blues, London Welsh, Moseley, Neath, Swansea, Ulster
Pool D: Ayr, Birmingham & Solihull, Doncaster Knights, Llandovery, Pontypridd, Rotherham Titans
Fixtures
Round 1, December 11
Pool A: Leinster v Plymouth Albion, Currie v Cornish Pirates, Worcester Warriors v Newport
Pool B : Bristol Rugby v Nottingham Rugby, Melrose v Munster, Esher v Llanelli
Pool C: London Welsh v Moseley, Bedford Blues v Ulster, Swansea v Neath
Pool D: Birmingham & Solihull v Doncaster Knights, Rotherham Titans v Llandovery, Pontypridd v Ayr
Round 2, December 18
Pool A: Plymouth Albion v Newport, Cornish Pirates v Leinster, Currie v Worcester Warriors
Pool B: Melrose v Esher, Llanelli v Nottingham Rugby, Bristol Rugby v Munster
Pool C: Neath v Bedford Blues, Ulster v Moseley, London Welsh v Swansea
Pool D: Doncaster Knights v Rotherham, Ayr v Llandovery, Pontypridd v Birmingham & Solihull
Round 3, January 15
Pool A: Cornish Pirates v Plymouth Albion, Leinster v Worcester Warriors, Currie v Newport
Pool B: Esher v Bristol Rugby, Nottingham Rugby v Munster, Llanelli v Melrose
Pool C: Bedford Blues v London Welsh, Moseley v Swansea, Ulster v Neath
Pool D: Pontypridd v Rotherham, Llandovery v Doncaster Knights, Birmingham & Solihull v Ayr
Round 4, January 22
Pool A: Worcester Warriors v Plymouth Albion, Leinster v Currie, Newport v Cornish Pirates
Pool B: Nottingham Rugby v Melrose, Bristol Rugby v Llanelli, Munster v Esher
Pool C: Moseley v Neath, London Welsh v Ulster, Swansea v Bedford Blues
Pool D: Rotherham v Ayr, Doncaster Knights v Pontypridd, Llandovery v Birmingham & Solihull
Round 5, February 26
Pool A: Worcester Warriors v Cornish Pirates, Plymouth Albion v Currie, Newport v Leinster*
Pool B: Esher v Nottingham Rugby, Melrose v Bristol Rugby, Munster v Llanelli*
Pool C: Bedford Blues v Moseley, Neath v London Welsh, Swansea v Ulster*
Pool D: Birmingham & Solihull v Rotherham, Ayr v Doncaster Knights, Llandovery v Pontypridd*
NB: It was agreed by the British & Irish Cup Organising Committee that to avoid a clash with the RBS 6 Nations matches on February 26 that the Round 5 matches marked * will be played on the weekend of October 16.
Quarter finals, March 5
Pool A Winner v Pool C Runner Up
Pool C Winner v Pool A Runner Up
Pool B Winner v Pool D Runner Up
Pool D Winner v Pool B Runner Up
Semi finals, April 23
Final, May 7
