Neath welcome the Blues to The Gnoll this Saturday knowing they take on a side who hold a perfect record going into round three of the competition.
The Welsh All Blacks and Bedford were fairly regular opponents in an all-conquering period for Welsh rugby, playing each other 11 times between 1971 and 1983. The Welsh All Blacks won 20-11 in the first fixture at The Gnoll in January 1971.
The last meeting, and the 12th in total, came in this competition in January 2011 and ended in a 13-6 victory for the Blues. The overall head-to-head record stands at six wins apiece.
Now, with the English Championship side just missing out on an Aviva Premiership spot last season, Horgan knows how tough the ties will be but he says that the players are in high spirits.
“We are very much looking forward to Saturday,” said the Neath head coach.
“We know the quality of Bedford. We’ve played them before at The Gnoll and saw how strong they were.
“But we know that we could have won that time and we’ll go into this game too with a positive attitude. We don’t go into games wanting to be second best. We want to make a good example of ourselves and get our third win in a row.”
The Blacks have won their last two games, against Swansea and Carmarthen Quins, both away from home and are unlikely to make many changes for the cup clash.
“Aaron Bramwell hurt his back in the warm-up and he had to pull out of the Carmarthen game,” Horgan added.
“It was a change we didn’t really need but we coped. We just need to reassess him this week and see if he’s fit for Bedford. Kyle Davies moved from centre to fullback and he did an excellent job.
“We can’t make many changes, we have a small squad right now due to the injuries. I’m just hoping that the boys will front up again and prove that we can again win against the odds.
“If our players keep consistent then we’ll see what happens. We’re all really looking forward to it anyway.”
