The fixture was originally scheduled as an away game, however, by mutual consent the clubs re-arranged and the Quins now play their first three matches of the new campaign at home. Whilst there are no easy fixtures in the Premiership the opportunity of playing consecutive games at home must surely give Carmarthen the incentive of getting their season off to a positive start.
In 2014/15 there was very little between the two clubs with the teams winning their respective away fixtures against each other. In October the Quins won 44-29 at The Bridge Field, whilst in February Bedwas were the victors at The Park by 35-22.
In the Premiership League table Bedwas finished 5th on 60 points with the Quins in 6th place on 59 points. The Quins won 12 of their matches and whilst Bedwas won 11 they finished higher due to a greater number of bonus points accrued throughout the season.
Both clubs will want to consolidate their positions in the top half of the league and indeed will be looking to improve on last season’s performance. Saturday promises to be an uncompromising and close fixture and the supporters will be hoping that the new scoring system of six points for a try will encourage Carmarthen and Bedwas to play open attacking rugby.
Certainly that has been the Quins philosophy for the past couple of seasons so they will relish the chance to continue in the same vein.
Carmarthen Quins: 15 Chris Banfield 14 Gavin Thomas 13 Iolo Evans 12 Rhys Williams 11 Dylan Morgan 10 Craig Evans 9 Kieran Hardy 8 Josh Middleton 7 Ellis Lloyd 6 Haydn Pugh 5 Josh Helps 4 Ben Thompson 3 Ian Jones (Capt) 2 Ryan Elias 1 Steff Phillips
Replacements: 16 Nathan Williams 17 Ifan Phillips 18 Steffan Thomas 19 Lee Taylor 20 Shaun Evans 21 Connor Lloyd 22 Dale Ford 23 Kieran Jones
