Pool 1 – Connacht v
Pontypridd (Sunday, 2pm)
Pontypridd put last season's agonising semi-final defeat to
Leinster A behind them with a win over London Scottish on the opening weekend.
Connacht shipped a half-century of points away to Bristol. Connacht have beaten
Welsh opposition twice in six attempts in the B&I Cup, with victories over
Cross Keys and Llanelli in 2012 and 2013 respectively. They have never played
Pontypridd before though.
Prediction: Pontypridd by 15 points
Pool 2 - Rotherham
Titans v Aberavon (Saturday, 3pm)
Tries from Alex Rieder and Jack Preece saw Rotherham open
this year's competition with a 20-3 win against Yorkshire Carnegie in
Scarborough, while a brace of tries from Wales U20s No.8 Robert Dudley-Jones
helped Aberavon pulled off a shock 18-14 win over Ulster's second string.
Rotherham won both at home and away when they played Aberavon in the 2012/13
edition of the B&I Cup. After a narrow four-point victory in Port Talbot,
the Titans turned on the style to win 49-7 in the return match at Clifton Lane.
Prediction: Rotherham by 10 points
Pool 4 – Bedford
Blues v Cross Keys (Saturday, 3pm)
Both Bedford and Cross Keys, two former finalists, began
their campaigns with defeats. Blues' on-loan fly half Steffan Jones will know
all there is to know about Cross Keys having turned out for the Welsh
Premiership side on a number of occasions in recent years. Jones arrived from
Newport Gwent Dragons in the summer and wore the number 10 jersey in the
opening round loss against the Pirates.
Prediction: Bedford Blues by 2 points
Pool 5 – Carmarthen
Quins v Plymouth Albion (Saturday, 2.30pm)
Welsh Premiership high-flyers Carmarthen Quins suffered
their first defeat of the season when they were beaten 37-17 by Jersey in Round
1. Quins trailed 17-0 at the break before restoring some pride with a strong
second-half showing. Plymouth also showed real character in going down to a
31-24 home defeat to Leinster A, outscoring the defending champions four tries
to three to take two bonus points from the game.
Prediction: Carmarthen Quins by 7 points
0 comments:
Post a Comment