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Ravens aim to fly high

Ravens aim to fly high

Bridgend Ravens travel to St Helens this Saturday knowing victory over Swansea will be their fourth league win in a row.

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The Ravens rejuvenated their season back at the start of October, eventually winning a 12-try thriller against Newport 42-35.

Since then they have ground out narrow victories over Neath and Aberavon, as well as taking the points in a dominant British & Irish Cup performance against Cardiff.

However, their opponents Swansea have yet to turn their campaign around and have just once win in the league and once in the cup, against Aberavon and Dundee respectively.

They sit bottom of the Principality Premiership table with six points but have scored just two tries less than Bridgend, so the Ravens will once again have to be well-organised and disciplined in defence to keep the Whites out.

The Ravens have provided the Ospreys with an impressive seven players who are expected to start in the regional outfit’s LV= Cup match away to Exeter Chiefs tomorrow. However, they have managed to name just one change from the team that held on to victory against Aberavon at the Riverside Hardware Brewery Field two weeks ago.

Daniel Suter replaces Owen Williams – the latter being part of an all-Bridgend front row for the Ospreys.

Jamie Murphy has been instrumental for the Ravens in their recent victories and he keeps his place at fly-half. Veteran Steve Winn has also made a big impact since cementing his position in the side and he starts outside Murphy at 12.

Adam Hillier-Rees finished a fantastic team try against Aberavon and he stays at No. 8 with hard-working captain Jonathon Vaughan on the flank joined by Andrew Waite.

Swansea will be looking for significant improvement following a disappointing season so far.

Ian Hopkins, Swansea team manager said: “After a dreadful run of results in the last month we are determined to get back to winning ways against Bridgend on Saturday.

“We are looking to kick on this week and what better way to get that important victory than against our fellow regional side. It would be great to have bragging rights.

“We have had a couple of good training sessions this week and it is great to welcome back winger Richard Williams and hooker Paul John to the side.”

Swansea: 15 Nicky Thomas 14 Richard Williams 13 Aled Jenkins 12 Ben Roberts 11 Rhys Williams 10 Cameron Clement 9 Jon Preddy, 1 Matthew Norman 2 Paul John 3 Ian Williams 4 Sam Kiley (c) 5 Rhodri Hughes 6 James McKenna 7 James Bija 8 Dan Baker.
Replacements: Andrew Littlehales, Nicky Smith, Aled Mason, Ben Fox, Rob Dudley-Jones, Jake Cole, Nicky Harwood, Chris Shelmerdine.

Bridgend: 15 Ashley Evans 14 Rhys Ward Jones 13 Nathan Edwards 12 Steve Winn 11 Luke Morgan 10 Jamie Murphy 9 Chris Williams, 1 Jonathan Thomas 2 Ashleigh James 3 Dan Suter 4 Shaun O’Rourke 5 Lee Davies 6 Andrew Waite 7 Jonathan Vaughan (c), 8 Adam Hillier-Rees.
Replacements: Rod Apsee, Chris Francis, Gary Carpenter, Alex Jones, Scott Hicks, Sam Campbell, Ben Thomas, Kyle Barrett.

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