Pontypridd v Neath – Match Preview
On Saturday 7th March Pontypridd RFC welcome Neath RFC to Sardis Road for an Admiral Premiership clash, kick off will be 2:30pm.
It’ll be the third time the two clubs have met this season with Neath having earned the spoils in the previous two. Both previous encounters took place at The Gnoll earlier in the campaign – on Saturday 29th September the scoreline was 23-19 to the Welsh All Blacks in the Cup, and just over a month later on Saturday 1st November, the home side inflicted defeat on the Valley Commandos by 26 points to 20 in the league.
The two old rivals served up a proper humdinger the last time they met at Sardis, that encounter came in last season’s Admiral Premiership on the 30th April 2025. In a match that yielded no fewer than ten tries, it was Pontypridd that came out on top by a single point, 34-33 – let’s hope for a similar level of entertainment and the same outcome this Saturday…
TEAM NEWS –
Ponty have made six changes to the starting XV that won away at Cross Keys last Saturday – three in the backs, three in the forwards with a positional switch as well. There are two new faces on the bench including a potential debutant.
The three changes in the back line sees returns to the team for Garyn Smith at inside centre, Joe Davies on the wing and Joel Raikes at scrum-half.
In the forwards Louis Tovey earns a start at hooker, Mitch Barnard returns to start in the second row and Iestyn Harris is selected at blindside flanker. The reshuffle in packs sees Cai James move into the second row.
The two new faces in the matchday squad on the bench are Ben Bora and Lucca Alexander-White. Lucca was due to to potentially make his debut away a Newbridge off the bench a few weeks ago, but was a late withdrawal on that particular afternoon.
The Pontypridd team selected to play Neath is as follows:
15. Jorge Lucey. 14. Louis Rochefort-Shugar. 13. Stuart Floyd-Ellis. 12. Garyn Smith. 11. Joe Davies. 10. Logan Jones. 9. Joel Raikes.
1. Ben Drew. 2. Louis Tovey. 3. Finian Murray. 4. Mitch Barnard. 5. Cai James. 6. Iestyn Harris. 7. Cally James (c). 8. Jordan Coxley.
Subs: 16. Connah Hughes. 17. Ben Stephens. 18. Kian Mattravers. 19. Lucca Alexander-White. 20. Ben Bora. 21. Lloyd Dennett. 22. Rhodri Smith. 23. George Thorrington.
SUPPORTER INFORMATION:
Tickets – Admission on Saturday will be £12 full, £10 concession access-all-areas and under 16’s free if accompanied by a paying adult. You can purchase tickets on the day or to save time (which is recommended to miss the queues) you can use our online e-Ticket system, here’s the link which includes all our different packages – e-Tickets – Pontypridd v Neath 7/3/2026
Supporter access is via the Clubhouse end of the ground only – the ground and bars will be open from midday onwards.
CLUB ‘POP-UP’ SHOP – We recently announced both our new range of merchandise with new partner RCS, and our new online club shop which will go live on Monday 9th March. But ahead of that supporters will be able to try on various different items of clothing to gauge your size. So this Saturday we will have a pop-up shop situated in the old shop attached to our clubhouse within the stadium. Supporters will be able to note their size and order items there and then, or you can just keep a note of your size and order direct from our online shop two days later. It will be open for an hour prior to kick off, during half time and for a limited amount of time after Ponty’s match. Here’s yesterday’s Club media release – Pontypridd RFC’s 150th Season Merchandise Range
Ty Gwynno’s ‘Dementia Choir’ – Pre-match we will have a special performance in the Clubhouse from local care home Ty Gwynno – they will be singing from 2:00pm onwards.
Live Sport in the Clubhouse – We will be showing live coverage of the two Six Nations matches taking place throughout the afternoon – Scotland v France kicking off at 2:10pm, and Italy v England which kicks off at 4:40pm.
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