London Welsh and Neath will renew acquaintances for the first time in more than four years when they meet at the Gnoll tonight (Friday Feb 25, 7:15pm) in the British & Irish Cup.
Moseley’s narrow win in Ulster yesterday may have ended both sides’ hopes of reaching the quarter-finals, but there’ll still be plenty of Welsh pride at stake tomorrow night.
And for Welsh number eight Lee Beach it will also be the chance to return to the club he captained to a first-ever league and cup double in 2007/08 – scoring a try in the Blacks’ 28-22 Konica Minolta Cup final win over Pontypridd – before heading to Old Deer Park in the summer of 2009.
“I’m looking forward to it; it’ll be a weird experience going back to the old club. I had success in the past with them, so it will be a strange feeling,” said Beach, who also captained Wales to Sevens World Cup glory in Dubai in April 2009.
“Going to Neath at any time, whether it’s a Friday night or Saturday afternoon you still get the same greeting.
“They’ll be up for it because they see London Welsh as English opposition, but there are a few Welsh boys in our squad who are looking forward to going down there.
“They are ruthless at home and they’re going well in the league so it should be a good game.”
Beach joined Neath from Pontypridd before signing for the Ospreys in 2005, for whom he made 27 appearances, including the win over Australia in 2006, before returning for a second spell with Neath.
Having led the Blacks to the double in 2007/08, Beach was named Principality Player of the Year as well as picking up the Welsh Rugby Writers Principality Player of the Year.
“That was massive for the club and massive for me being captain. Ever since Neath have gone semi-pro they’ve had success – they’ve either won the league or the cup. In regards to Wales, they’re the best semi-pro team around,” said Beach.
He capped his last season at the Gnoll by helping Neath retain the Konica Minolta Cup with victory over Llanelli, and therefore knows exactly what Welsh can expect to face on Friday.
“Neath have always prided themselves on a big forward pack – they get stuck in and don’t shy away from anything,” he said.
“Some of the backs they’ve got like full back Gareth King, who is a very good player, can break the line very easily. So as a squad we’ve got to match them up front and in the backs we’ve got to knock their strike runners down.”
The last time the two sides met was on August 13, 2006 when Welsh came out on top 29-24 in a pre-season friendly played at Ealing Trailfinders.
Welsh’s last visit to the Gnoll had come exactly one year to the day earlier when the Dragons edged a low scoring game 13-3.
Friday evening’s clash with Neath will be the first in a two-part ‘Welsh’ double header for the Dragons, with Phil Greening’s side completing their B&I Cup Pool C campaign against Swansea at Old Deer Park on Sunday (2pm) in a rearranged fixture that was snowed off before Christmas.
