This time last year two of the Cardiff club side were playing for Glantaf, helping them to reach the final at Principality Stadium – scrum half Sion Davies and replacement centre Osian Darwin-Lewis.
The two tournaments are now very much linked in the new progressive player pathway created by the WRU. Both games are available to watch on S4C (Glantaf v Cymoedd kick off at 5.15pm and Cardiff v Ebbw Vale at 7.30pm).
Last year four driving line-out tries earned Ebbw Vale a notable 36-20 victory at the Arms Park and Jason Strange’s side will be hoping to repeat their forward dominance from that day as they look to build on their 34-22 opening day win over Aberavon.
Cardiff kicked-off with a bonus-point victory at RGC, triumphing 32-25. Star of the day on his competitive debut for the club was 18-year-old Tom Bowen, who last season was playing his rugby at Clifton College.
He scored a hat-trick with other tries coming from Dewi Cross and Joe Goodchild. They all start once again against the Steelmen, with the home side boasting eight Cardiff Academy players.
Cardiff: Joe Goodchild; Tom Bowen, Elijah Evans, Steffan Emanuel, Dewi Cross; Josh Thomas, Sion Davies; Rhys Barratt, Efan Daniel, Will Davies-King, Craig Hudd, Sean Moore (captain), Gwilym Bradley, Nathan Hudd, Benji Williams
Reps: Alun Rees, Marc Thomas, Tom Harper, Evan Rees, Tom Rice, Joe Williams, Osian Darwin-Lewis, Jason HarriesEbbw Vale: Matt Jones; Harry Rees-Weldon, Ethan Phillips (captain), Cameron Davies, Hamish Anderson; Evan Lloyd, Rory Harries; Morgan Davies, Ieuan Morris, Adam Williams, Dylan Bartlett, Jack Pope, Ewan McIntyre, Sion Parry, Lewis Young
Reps: Joe Franchi, Morgan Williams, Owen Hatherill, Curtis Gregory, Ben Main, Jon Evans, Josh Malson, Ieuan Evans
“It felt pretty special to get my debut for Cardiff RFC. It’s a club which has a rich history and some of the very best have worn that jersey,” Bowen told the club website.
“The boys will be buzzing to get going again after a good win away to RGC. We want to build on our performance from RGC this week and always get better as it was far from perfect against RGC.
“I think from us, we are just concerned what we can bring to the table on Thursday night. Ebbw Vale will always be a good outfit but if we turn up and play to our strengths, we should hopefully get the result.
“It’s a must win game for us as it’s the first one in front of our home support. We will want to showcase our best rugby.”
Ebbw Vale will be led for the first time by centre Ethan Phillips and have former Cardiff prop Adam Williams packing down in the front row of their powerful pack. Former Pontypridd flanker Sion Parry will make his debut having last weekend been in the Canada team that played against Tonga in the Pacific Nations Cup.
