Cardiff RFC will be looking for revenge as they face Newport again in the space of six days
The Blue and Blacks will travel to Newport Stadium on Saturday as they rematch their old rivals after their last outing, where Newport RFC won 27-20.
In the latest instalment of this rivalry in front of S4C cameras, tries from Ben Roach, Oli Andrew and Harri Ackerman, accompanied by the boot of Player of the Match Jac Lloyd, saw the Black and Ambers make it back-to-back wins.
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for Newport, as tries from Marc Thomas, Joe Goodchild, and Josh Thomas weren’t enough as Dan Fish’s men recorded their first defeat at home this season.
So, can Cardiff finish 2024 with a win on Saturday afternoon? (KO 2:30)
Team News:
1. Rhys Barratt
2. Alun Rees
3. Joe Cowell
4. Craig Hudd
5. Sean Moore
6. Lucas de la Rua
7. Nathan Hudd
8. Benji Williams
9. Ethan Lloyd
10. Harri Wilde
11. Jason Harries
12. Fraser Jones
13. Elijah Evans
14. Joe Goodchild
15. Josh Thomas
Replacements:
16. Charlie Manship
17. Marc Thomas
18. Tom Harper
19. Ethan Phillips
20. Aled Ward
21. Evan Rees
22. Sion Davies
23. Osian Darwin-Lewis
Pre-Match Thoughts: Speaking ahead of the game, Captain Sean Moore said: “Yeah it was a tough game. Very physical which is what you expect from those games against Newport.
“We just weren’t clinical enough when it counted towards the end of the game. We had plenty of chance and didn’t convert them into points. Probably trying to score 2/3 phases earlier than we needed to.
“Nothing really surprised us I would say, they’re a quality team and we know it’s never going to be an easy game. They just took their chances when they had them.
“Like I said at the start Fishy said to us after the game we’ve got away with not being at the level we know we can be in those first block of games and now we are playing teams at the top of the table we’ve come out on the wrong side of the scoreline in the last two weeks.
“We need to make sure we start to convert the pressure we were putting on Newport into points and just be more clinical all around to allow us to win these games.
“I can’t imagine either side changing too much in a week considering it’s Christmas week and neither side will have as much preparation time as we normally would. So I’d imagine it’s going to be more of the same with some minor tweaks, but hopefully the weather will hold out and we can throw the ball around a bit more than we managed to on Saturday.
“Obviously we want to get the win on Saturday to keep us pushing for the top of the table, especially with it being a chance to set some wrongs right from last week which is a good thing about the back to back games against Newport. We know it’s going to be tough and just got to go into it with the right attitude and hopefully come out on the right side of the scoreline come Saturday,” Moore concluded.
Remember the last meeting in Newport?
The last time the Blue and Blacks travelled to Newport was in March this year as they faced Ty Morris’ men at Rodney Parade. That day, the Black and Ambers recorded a 28-14 win, as scores from Joshua Skinner, Che Hope, and two from Chay Foster-Smith saw the Black and Ambers record a bonus point win.
Cardiff did come close to leaving Newport with a losing bonus point as tries from Sean Moore and Luke Pollock made the scoreline more respectable.
Those unable to make it to Newport Stadium on Saturday can stay up to date with live updates via our social media channels (X, Facebook and Instagram).