The Scarlets head to Belfast to face Ulster A, while Cardiff Blues go to Dublin to tackle a Leinster A side that twice won the old British & Irish Cup. Their senior sides both lost to the same Irish provinces in the opening round of the Guinness PRO14.
After a couple of friendlies, the Welsh regions opened their account in the new development tournament with derby clashes. The Ospreys were convincing winners over the Scarlets at the Brewery Field, Bridgend, while the Blues went to Rodney Parade and beat the Dragons 37-21.
“Our game against the Ospreys was a great advert for what this level of rugby can be. Both teams tried to play an expansive attacking game and Ospreys just came out on top,” said Scarlets head coach Richard Kelly.
“It’s going to be very tough this weekend, especially with the travelling to Belfast. Ulster have always been strong at A team level, but it’s a great challenge that we will all look forward to it.”
Blues head coach Richie Rees, who has Wales’ most capped player Gethin Jenkins as his defence coach, was pleased with his side’s win in Newport, but knows just how tough it is going to be in Dublin. With John Mulvihill having 28 players in Italy with the senior side this week there will be a few players missing from last weekend’s triumph.
“It’s not going to get any easier with Leinster away this week. They’ll probably have around 10 of the 23 that faced our senior side in round one,” said Rees.
“But our boys were excellent against the Dragons and I can’t give them enough credit. This is a good competition and we’re looking to test these young players and expose them to that skill level and decision-making under pressure.”
The Ospreys head welcome Munster A to St Helen’s on Saturday. When the two sides met at the same venue in the B&I Cup last year the visitors came out on top 24-3 before going on to win the return leg 27-0.
Skipper Ifan Phillips led the way in the win over the Scarlets as the former Wales Under 20 hooker grabbed a hat-trick of tries in the 41-36 victory. The Ospreys plundered six tries, while Wales wing Steff Evans scored twice for the Scarlets as they replied with five of their own.
“It was very pleasing to get off to a really good start,there were a lots of positives for us and now there’s a platform for us to build on.It was a gritty performance against Scarlets and we showed real moments of class in both attack and defence,” said Ospreys head coach, Richard Fussell.
Celtic Cup Round 2
Friday, 14 September
Ulster A v Scarlets (Shaw’s Bridge, Instonians – 7.00pm)
Saturday, 15 September
Leinster A v Cardiff Blues (Donnybrook – 2.00pm)
Ospreys v Munster A (St Helen’s, Swansea – 2.00pm)
Dragons v Connacht Eagles (Ystrad Mynach – 2.30pm)
Round 1 Results
Friday, 7 September
Ospreys 41 – 36 Scarlets
Dragons 21 – 37 Cardiff Blues
Ulster A 28 – 43 Leinster A
Munster A 24 – 16 Connacht Eagles
