Cardiff Met v Pontypridd – Match Preview

On Saturday 19th October Pontypridd RFC head into the capital to Cyncoed Campus where they’ll play Cardiff Met University in the Admiral Premiership, the match will kick off at 2:30pm.

Ponty’s last visit to Cyncoed was also the last time the two teams met, that was back on Saturday 28th January 2017 in the Welsh Cup with the Valley Commandos triumphing 43-12 that particular afternoon.

Pontypridd head into Saturday’s match looking to make it five league wins on the bounce, whilst Cardiff Met will be looking to get back on the winning trail following defeat away at Llangennech last weekend, but will no doubt take confidence from the fact they are unbeaten at Cyncoed in the league so far this season.

The Team News…

Ponty have made four changes to the starting XV that beat Narberth at Sardis Road last Saturday, with a further one new face amongst the replacements. The sole change in the backs sees Joe Davies returning from injury to start on the right wing. In the pack all three changes come in the front row – Ben Stephens returns from his leave to start at loosehead prop, whilst Kian Mattravers is drafted in to start at tighthead. Jeff Young earns his first start for the club at hooker following an impressive debut off the bench last week.

On the bench Rob Jones has recovered from the injury that kept him out of last week’s encounter and returns to the matchday squad. Ioan Evans and Garyn Daniel are still absentees, although Ioan is stepping up his fitness in the hope of making a return to action in the very near future. Ben Drew and Cole Parry have now unfortunately entered the Sardis Road treatment room and are unavailable as a result.

The Pontypridd team selected to play Cardiff Met is as follows:

15. Dale Stuckey. 14. Joe Davies. 13. Stuart Floyd-Ellis. 12. Garyn Smith. 11. Louis Rochefort-Shugar. 10. Jacob Symes. 9. Joel Raikes.

1. Ben Stephens. 2. Jeff Young. 3. Kian Mattravers. 4. Mitch Barnard. 5. Kristian Parker. 6. Cai James. 7. Cally James (c). 8. Joe Miles.

Subs: 16. Rob Jones. 17. Dan Cotterell. 18. Morgan Bosanko. 19. Lloyd Riley. 20. Will Jameson 21. Lucus Welch. 22. Jaydan Pugh. 23. Sam Talbot.

THE JOHN PUGH MEMORIAL SHIELD –

On Saturday the two sides will be competing for the John Pugh Memorial Shield. John was a former Pro-Vice Chancellor and Chairman of Cardiff Met RFC for over 30 years, before his sad passing in October 2023. Cardiff Met and Pontypridd have had many players represent both clubs over the years – Geraint Lewis, Neil Hennessy, Gareth Baber and Simon Humberstone, to name a few in more recent times. It is due to these links that Cardiff Met have chosen Pontypridd as the club that they would like to compete against for the John Pugh Memorial Shield – a gesture that we at Pontypridd RFC are honoured by. Just prior to kick-off there will be a minute’s applause in honour of John, and there will be an on-field presentation of the Shield to the winning team at full-time led by the aforementioned Gareth Baber and Geraint Lewis.

GROUND AND TICKET INFORMATION –

The address for Cardiff Met’s ground is Venue 1, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cyncoed Campus, Cyncoed Road, Cardiff, CF23 6XD.

Supporters are able to purchase their E-ticket’s prior to this Saturday’s match via the following link – Fanbase | Dashboard (fanbaseclub.com)

Parking: Cyncoed is a pay & display campus; it costs 50p to park on weekends.

Gate Entry: Supporters to walk down the hill (following the road) and enter on the right-hand side of S Block. Cardiff Met will have stewards in place to direct people.

Refreshments: Pre-match – Students’ Union (aka Centro) will be open. Post-match – The Discovery, Celyn Ave, Cardiff CF23 6FH.

SUPPORTERS TRAVEL –

The Pontypridd Supporters Club are organising travel for fans to the match on Saturday, and for those of you that have booked the bus will leave Sardis Road at 1:00pm ahead of the 2:30pm kick-off before departing at 5:30pm. Should anyone require it for whatever reason Phil Lycett’s telephone number is 01443 662561.

Ole!

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