Pontypridd will
begin the defence of their Principality Premiership crown at home to Bedwas on
September 14, as they look to build on their amazing Cup and League double
success of last year.
The Valley Commandos, who only lost
once in the domestic league and cup competitions, are relishing the prospect of
being the side everyone wants to beat and believes the Premiership will be even
more competitive this season.
“I think there are going to be even
more teams in contention for the title this year. The WRU, the clubs and the
players have all worked hard to raise standards and I think that will come
through on the pitch. We are grateful that our first game against Bedwas is at
home. Bedwas had a fantastic season last year, and have strengthened their
squad further, which should all make for an opening encounter set to be a great
way to kick off the campaign.” Said Ponty Head Coach Dale McIntosh.
“While last season’s campaign
is a big act to follow, we will show the same enthusiasm and ethics
towards all our matches as we always do. We have trust in our players and
ourselves as coaches, and we are accountable to the club, our supporters and
ourselves. It's simple – if you ever become satisfied with what you have
achieved, you might as well hang up your boots,” added McIntosh
The remaining opening day
fixtures see Aberavon hosting Newport, Carmarthen travelling to Bridgend,
Llandovery entertaining Cardiff, Llanelli visiting Neath and Cross Keys making
the trip to Swansea.
It will be a big opening month for
the clubs in the Ospreylian region with the four sides eager not to repeat
their performances of last year - when all four finished in the lower echelons
- especially now the league will no longer be ring-fenced.
On paper, Bridgend’s looks the
hardest start in facing Carmarthen, Pontypridd, Llandovery and Llanelli before
the end of September. However, the Ravens have added some quality signings so
far in the off season, and the recruitment of fly-half James Dixon from Carmarthen
Quins in particular, I think, will turn out to be an excellent acquisition.
As for the other Ospreylian
regions, Neath and Aberavon looked to be on a continual upward curve towards
the end of last season, but the loss of Patrick Horgan from the Gnoll outfit
will surely have a detrimental effect.
Meanwhile, Swansea, who finished
bottom of the pile will know another season like that and they could
potentially be playing a tier down.
Moving west, Llandovery notched up
another excellent season last year (and arguably played the most stylish rugby
of any side at the front end of last season), Carmarthen produced a solid
showing, while Llanelli it seems will always be there or thereabouts come the
sharp end of the season. Llanelli will, however, be wary of travelling to the
Gnoll so early on in the season and will also face Carmarthen twice in a matter
of weeks.
Llanelli Head coach Kevin George
said: “Neath are in a period of transition with Neil Edwards and LlÅ·r Lane
having taken over the coaching reins, along with a number of experienced
players having moved on or retired. They have recruited some experienced
players with the likes of Dale Ford and James Goode, too, but we would have
preferred to meet them later on in the season as they will be an unknown entity
in Round One.
“The other thing that jumps out
from the fixture list is that will we will play Carmarthen Quins twice in less
than two weeks: with our British & Irish Cup play-off taking place on
September 7, before playing them again on Wednesday September 18. The Quins
have recruited well and have a number of talented academy players within their
ranks so that will be tough.
“Traditionally we have started
slowly but we can’t afford to do that this season. We have recruited at half
back, Aled Davies and Gareth Davies have moved up to the senior Scarlets squad,
and with Lions players rested, there will be a big demand on our players, so we
will assess how we’re doing at the end of September before setting targets for
the season.”
It is no doubt that Bedwas were
the surprise package of last year and many, like myself, would have enjoyed
seeing their hard work pay off with a place in the play-offs, but they ended up
losing out in the cruellest of fashions. The big question this year will be
whether the Gwent side will be able to build on last season.
And what about Cross Keys? - in my
opinion, the underachievers of last year? The crux of the matter for them, I
feel, will be whether or not they are able to cut down on their ill-discipline
to mount a serious challenge.
Meanwhile, Newport have set their
sights high for the forthcoming season with captain Gethin Robinson targeting a
top three finish.
“A lot of games, we would put in a
good performance but then we would let ourselves down when we didn’t need to”,
said Robinson
“So that’s the thing we need to do in
the coming season – start putting in consistently good performances.”
“We were the only team to beat
Pontypridd and pushed them all the way at Sardis Road”, he said.
“I expect Newport to be in the top
three challenging for the Premiership. That’s the way I feel about us as a club,”
affirmed Robinson.
Last, but by no means least, we come
to Cardiff, and Martyn Fowler’s men will surely be aiming for a higher position
than the eighth they managed last term. They face a tough opening test,
however, with a long journey to Llandovery.
So come next April 26th, who will be
vying for a play-off place and who will possibly be preparing for life in a
lower tier?
For the former, I think you would have
to be pretty foolish to look past Pontypridd: once again their set up is first
class and I can see them finishing top of the pile. Could the surprise packages
of Bedwas and Llandovery from last season possibly mount another challenge or
will they come back down to earth with a bump?
At the other end of the spectrum, the
bigger implications I feel will be felt at the basement, with the team who
finishes bottom potentially being relegated to the Championship, but that will
only happen if the team that wins the Championship title holds the coveted ‘A’
Licence.
I believe the WRU really need to make
up their minds as to what they want from the Premiership. Whether they want
teams playing for more than just pride with a real competition, or if they
simply want to use it as a pathway to develop young players. However, if the
WRU is serious about preserving the Premiership's status as a competitive
league while at the same time using it as a breeding ground for the regions to
bed young talent in, then could it at all be possible to have the best of both
worlds?
With the WRU opening up the
possibility of relegation from the top flight this season, it will be
interesting to see whether some of the clubs such as Swansea - who finished
bottom last season but brought through young talent such as fly-half Sam Davies
and prop Nicky Thomas - will continue in the same vein with the possibility of
demotion looming over their heads, or will the clubs revert to older,
experienced heads instead which may not perhaps play into the WRU’s pathway
ambitions.
Swansea supremo Mefin Davies voiced
his concerns at the end of last month: "There's no doubt that a
Premiership without the threat of relegation helped the likes of Sam Davies and
others in the Wales Under-20s squad to develop last season.
"It's common sense that it
allows you to blood players and focus on development instead of focusing solely
on survival.
"If you have relegation,
then it changes your entire outlook as a coaching team and it means that young
up-and-coming players may miss out on vital experience and opportunities to
learn at that level.”
So
what teams will shine bright this season? Will there be any surprises; who, if
anyone, will be the new Bedwas? And finally, is the WRU right to re-introduce
relegation and how will it affect teams that wish to blood in youngsters?