Top hosts bottom at the Bridge Field in an intriguing encounter, with the Wizards' only victory of the season coming over the league leaders back in September.
However, the Wizards have lost every match away this season and Bedwas have won all of their matches at the Bridge Field.
The Wizards have been dealing with some inner turmoil in recent weeks with graffiti on the walls of the Talbot Athletic Ground calling for head honcho Simon King to be sacked, but the club has been resolute in its defence of their Coach and will hope the players respond in kind on the pitch.
King said of the match, “"We're looking forward to facing Bedwas. We go into every game looking to win, and this match will be no different.
"It was a good game when we beat them earlier this season, and it should be another entertaining game tomorrow."Added the Head Coach.
With Pontypridd breathing down their necks, Bedwas know they must keep on winning to ensure a chance at the Premiership title, and I think they will do just that tomorrow.
Verdict – Bedwas by 15 points
Teams
Bedwas – Matthew Minty; R Budina, M Pewtner, S Williams, M John; S
Thomas, T Rowlands; I George, R Hutchinson, M Petit, K Maiden, J Thomas, S
Grainger (capt), D Mattravers, A Harris. Reps – D Preece, B Roberts, K Gay, P
Rees, S Feehan, L Hudd, Liam Davies, R Owen.
Aberavon – Ricky Thomas; R Carter, W Price, M Jenkins, S Andrews; C
Evans, J Heatley; R Jenkins, I Davies, A Clatworthy, G Ronan, S Williams
(capt), B Thomas, N Strong, C Davies. Reps – P Bamsey, Will Batcup, J
Tomalin-Reeves, I Moore, G Harvey, R Morris, C John, N White.
Carmarthen Quins v Bridgend
Quins produced a great forward effort on Boxing day to see off local rivals Llandovery and they will once again have to front up if they are to see off a Bridgend side that only narrowly lost out at Bedwas last time out.
The Raven side, who despite missing several National Academy players for the match, will be bolstered by Tom Grabham, Tom Habberfield and Moldovan forward, Dmitri Arhip, and, coupled with new signing Lewis Williams, I think they will test the Quins defence.
Quins Head Coach, Steve Williams, will be hoping his side's Boxing Day victory will be a catalyst for things to come in 2013, “It was a very good result for us. We've had a close couple of games with Llandovery in the past so it was good to finally get a win.
“We had a strong scrum and line out and although it wasn't a day for throwing the ball around, when we did spread it wide we looked dangerous. It was a very solid performance.
"We are at bare numbers in terms of players but have been for a while and we can get a team out, that's the main thing,” added Williams.
Verdict - Carmarthen Quins by 5 points.
Teams
Carmarthen Quins – TBA
Bridgend – J Murphy; T Grabham, N Edwards, S Campbell, L Morgan; L Williams,
T Habberfield; G Carpenter, M Dwyer, Dimitri Aarhip, O Lloyd, A Jones, A Waite,
S Hicks, J Vaughan (capt). Reps – (from) A James, J Thomas, Ben Thomas, K
Dowding, Alun Evans, A Ellis, S Winn, C Williams, R Ward Jones.
Cross Keys v Llanelli
Arguably the match of the day in the Premiership sees fifth place Cross Keys entertain third placed Llanelli, who are just a point ahead of the Pandy Park outfit.
The West Walians had the better of their clash at Parc y Scarlets back in September, but it was a tight game and I expect a similar story tomorrow.
This will incidentally be Keys’ last home fixture in the league before the final day of the season and the hosts will want to build on their impressive win over Newport as they head into a tough run of matches.
Although Llanelli didn’t exactly set the world alight in their win over Swansea, they got the job done and have been stealthily making their way up the table as they look set to be in the mix for another title bid.
Verdict - Cross Keys by 3 points
Teams
Cross Keys – S Jones; L Williams, L Andrews, Nathan Williams, N
Trowbridge; D Jones, R Dyer; R Cornock, G Price, C Gould, D Hodge, O Hodge, T
Lampard, A Powell, R Nash (capt). Reps – (from) Nathan Williams (prop), J
Johnstone, A Lott, G Horrigan, S Higgins, S Matthews, R James, D Gunter, G
David.
Llanelli – D Bird; D Ford, N Reynolds, J Lewis (capt); J James; O
Williams, Ryan Jones; S Hopkins, C Hawkins (capt), A Hopkins, J Ball, J Galley,
L Rawlins, S Leach, D Eager. Reps – T Sloane, G George, N White, N Hart, Ryan
Jones, C Keenan, K Evans, J Kaijaks.
Newport v Llandovery
The Black and Ambers haven’t had the best of times in recent weeks: following a walloping from Newcastle in the British and Irish Cup, they could only draw with neighbours Cardiff and were comfortably beaten by local rivals Cross Keys last week.
“To be honest, we were brain dead against Keys and need to smarten up against Llandovery,” admitted Newport Coach, Sven Cronk.
"The whole squad knows that they need to respond after a really disappointing performance and the pack are under no illusions that they need to be more aggressive and play with a lot more intensity,” added Cronk.
Llandovery, who started the season seemingly scoring tries for fun, have seen their form wane lately as they slip to fourth in the table, and will also be hurting from their loss at Quins on Boxing Day.
If Llandovery, however, can get quality ball to their backs, then, even in difficult conditions, they should make the hosts pay.
Verdict - Llandovery by 6 points
Teams
Newport – G O’Driscoll; O Broad, D Robinson, A Davies, M Poole; S
Sneddon, J Leadbeater; D Pattison, A Brown, T Ryan, R Jones, A. Frampton, B
Lampitt, R Coombs, C Attwell (capt). Reps – R Prosser, J Jeune, D Rosser, Phil
Sargeant, T Hancock, E Frewen, R Downes, G Robinson.
Llandovery – C Knight; Aaron Warren, M Jacobs, J Roberts, A Claypole; C
Rees, L Rees; D Williams, L Lewis, D Howells, S Jones (capt), M Harbut, L
Kendall, R Brooks, R Pugh. Reps – P Edwards, Wyn Jones, B Griffiths, S Miles,
Ryan Williams, L Phillips, J Garland, R Walters.
Pontypridd v Neath
Neath have been on somewhat of a renaissance in recent times but, despite winning their last three matches, they travel to the House of Pain tomorrow and I think their revival may come to a bit of a halt.
Head Coach Patrick Horgan is under no illusions as to the size of his side's task, “Pontypridd will be another step up, probably the toughest ask in Premiership rugby at the moment and in recent games there, the home crowd’s influence has been worth two scores to them.”
Ponty’s last Premiership match was way back on 30th November when they picked up a significant away win at Llandovery but since then, league matches against Carmarthen and Cardiff have fallen by the way side and the title holders will be eager to get back on the pitch before another lengthy break due to Cup action.
The Sardis Road side will be hoping for a repeat of their 64-15 drubbing they handed out to Neath at the Gnoll in September, but also face some injury woes with wing Lewis Williams joining long term absentees Owen Jenkins, Gavin Dacey, Tom Pascoe, Gareth James and Pat Palmer.
However, I think they will have more than enough to beat the visitors, though I do not expect to see another Neath capitulation.
Verdict- Pontypridd by 20 points
Teams
Pontypridd – G Walsh; C Clayton, A Thomas, D Lockyer, M Nuthall; S
Humberstone, L Williams; S Roberts, Jack Dando, K Jenkins, C Hill, C Dicomidis
(capt), J Thomas, D Godfrey, R Shellard. Reps – Carl Thomas, D Flanagan, Alex
Webber, H Dowden, C Locke, E Siggery, C Phillips, B Thyer.
Neath – A Bramwell; K James (or Bowdy Davies), R Evans, J Leyshon, D
Howells; D Cummins, C Morgans; N Downs, R Clancy, Marc Jones, Rhys Jones, J
Griffiths, L Evans (capt), S Jones, L Beach. Reps – O Ford, A W Davies, Jordan
Collier, L Phillips, D Langdon, Luc Jones.
Swansea v Cardiff - Postponed
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