Newcastle Falcons’ Round 6 Pool 4 British and Irish Cup clash at Cross Keys has been postponed due to heavy snow fall in Wales.
The game has been rearranged for Friday 1 February with a kick-off time to be confirmed.
Newcastle continue their quest for promotion back to the Aviva Premiership at home to Cornish Pirates next Friday (kick-off 8pm).
This Saturday sees the clash of local rivals Cross Keys and Newport RFC in a Pool 4 British & Irish Cup Match. For many years the Keys have lived in the shadow of their more famous neighbours and over the years many players have drifted the short distance to find fame at Rodney Parade. The stats will tell us that Newport have dominated matches since the clubs first met back in 1910 when Newport ran out 24-6 winners at Rodney Parade. Since that very first match the clubs have met 143 times with Newport recording 99 wins to Keys 28 with 16 drawn matches. In the Premier league the record reads P22 W13 D2 L7 but Keys will point to the fact that they currently should be considered to be Gwent’s top club and they did in fact record the double over the Black & Ambers in the Premier League and also took Newport’s place in the B&IC and did well to get to the final.
On paper and current form this looks to be a comfortable win for the home side but then things don’t always go to the form book in local derbies. Cross Keys suffered a heavy defeat at Newcastle Falcons in Round 1 while Newport surprised many with an excellent win over Connacht Eagles at Rodney Parade.
Cross Keys face the daunting task of a trip to the North East to take on Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park on Saturday 13th October.
The Keys could not have been given a more difficult challenge to the one they will face on Saturday in their bid to go one better than last season, when they of course were beaten in the final by Munster A at Musgrave Park.
Cross Keys have announced the team for Saturday’s opening British and Irish Cup game at Kingston Park versus Newcastle. There are four changes from the side that started against Cardiff last week. In come Luke Williams and Rhys Dyer in the backs in place of Aled James and Ryan James respectively. In the pack the 2 flankers are changed with Rhys Peebles replacing Jamie Sollis at blindside whilst Dragons openside, Nic Cudd will make his debut for the club in place of Gerwyn Price. The team will be captained by Rhys Dyer with skipper Rob Nash approaching the end of his ban.
The Falcons are flying in the English Championship this year (pun not intended!) following their relegation from the Aviva Premiership at the end of last season. They have won 6 out of 6 of their league encounters, with an impressive total of 29 points from a possible 30.
Dean Richards men are probably overwhelming favourites, not only for Saturday’s encounter but also for the tournament outright.
The two sides have met on two occasions previously, in the European Shield (now The Amlin Challenge cup) back in the 2000/01 season, when Keys had a season in the old Welsh/Scottish League. Newcastle, coached then by Rob Andrew triumphed in both fixtures. At Kingston Park the home side emerged victorious by 99 points to 8. In the home fixture, played at Waunfawr Park due to Pandy Park waterlogged, a much closer game ended 25-11 to the visitors. Back then Newcastle could call on such players as Gary Armstrong, Vaiga Tuigamala, Dave Walder, Doddie Weir, Jamie Noon and a certain outside half by the name of Jonny Wilkinson.
So the toughest of starts for Keys to start their British & Irish cup campaign but Keys thrived on being firm underdogs in this tournament last season so maybe history can repeat itself this time around.
PIC: WRU Principality Premiership Launch, Pontypridd – Representatives of the teams in the 2012-13 WRU Principality Premiership at the launch at Pontypridd RFC Left to right – Sam Kiley of Swansea; Aled Williams of Neath; Gethin Robinson of Newport; Sam Williams of Aberavon; Jonathon Vaughan of Bridgend; Craig Hawkins of Llanelli; Dan Godfrey of Pontypridd; Jason Harries of Carmarthen Quins; Rob Nash of Cross Keys; Shaun Powell of Cardiff and Lloyd Phillips of Llandovery and Ross Wardle of Bedwas ©Huw Evans Picture Agency
The Principality Premiership kicks-off this weekend with all 12 teams in action on Saturday.
Arguably the tie of the opening weekend sees last year’s league champions Pontypridd take on SWALEC Cup winners Cross Keys.
Ponty travel to Pandy Park knowing they face a real challenge on the opening weekend against the side that finished sixth last year and beat them in the Cup final but coach Dale McIntosh is confident ahead of the game.
“Across the board we’ve got a stronger squad this year,” he said.
“We’ve got 32 players who will push for selection week in week out so selection is going to be tough.
Speaking of Cross Keys, McIntosh added: “They’re a club on the up and had a tremendous season last year so we’ll have to take our A game there and if we do that it will take a good side to beat us.
“If that side is Cross Keys then hats off to them.”
Ponty’s opponents are equally confident though with Cross Keys captain Rob Nash knowing his side will be marked men after their success last year.
“In previous years when I’ve played for Cross Keys people haven’t expected much from us so this year is going to be different,” Nash said.
“They know what to expect, they know we’re a good team so expectations are going to be a lot higher and teams are going to pick up their game against us.
“We have to adapt to that so we’ll have to be on the top of our game if we want to retain the cup and win the league.”
Elsewhere on the opening weekend, Bridgend take on Llanelli with Bridgend captain Jonathon Vaughan looking for revenge after two losses to Llanelli last year.
“Llanelli were one of the few teams that beat us twice last year so we really want to go out and get that win against them this year,” he said.
“Last season was our first back in the Premiership and we’ve done well to be within the 12 this year so our aim is to build on last year.
“This year we’re aiming to push forward and get into the top half of the table.”
The opening round of the 2012/13 Principality Premiership sees last season’s champions Pontypridd travel to Pandy Park to face SWALEC Cup holders Cross Keys. Pontypridd lost to Cross Keys in the final of the Cup competition, but were crowned Premiership winners after topping the league and then pipping Llanelli 15-13 in the Play-Off Final at Sardis Road.
Ponty head coach Dale McIntosh insists he is happy to be travelling to Cross Keys on the opening day. “After the Cup final, this is a good way to start the league campaign,” said the former Wales flanker. “It’s a tough place to go away and win, but it’s a good calibre of game, especially with Cross Keys’ success not only in the SWALEC Cup but in reaching the final of the British & Irish Cup and if we can get a result there, it will set us up for the rest of the season.”
Following the trip to Pandy Park, Ponty host Bedwas before travelling to Carmarthen, their bogey team. “Bedwas are a bit of an unknown at the moment after changes in their playing and coaching personnel but we won’t underestimate them, and then there’s Carmarthen. We have never won there, plus we lost to them in a Cup semi-final at Bridgend, but that has to change sometime.
“Although we have had a minimal break, we have had a good pre-season and are happy with how we have strengthened the side with some key signings including Scott Roberts and Keiron Jenkins in the front row, Dai Flanagan with join Simon Humberstone who has returned from injury at outside half and Geraint Welsh (check spelling) and Tom Pascoe join in the centre.
“We are raring to go. Last year we put ourselves in a good position to do the double but it didn’t happen for the right reasons. This year we again have ambitions to do as well as we can in both the Principality Premiership, the SWALEC Cup and the British & Irish Cup.”
Aberavon are hoping by boosting their back room staff, they can push for honours. Former Wales centre Mark Taylor and ex-Wales A fly half Craig Warlow bring a wealth of experience to the outfit with head coach Simon King saying the duo have already made an impact.
“They have settled in straight away,” he said. “We are looking forward to the start of the season but it’s a competitive league. There are lots of the players who went to Australia with the senior squad who have played Premiership rugby and we have a number of players who could come through the ranks.
“We came third last season but it’s difficult to convince people how good an achievement that was. We’ll be taking each game at a time and the squad is well so we are looking forward to a good start.”
Check club websites for fixture variations.
