Despite flying into the final with a 35-7 win over WRU National Cup winners RGC 1404 at The Wern last weekend, the Ironmen lost the toss to host the final and Jarvis believes that could be crucial.
“Aberavon will be favourites with home advantage, but we’ve been to tough places before and won this season and hopefully we can do it again,” said Jarvis.
“We had had our chances in all three previous games against RGC, but didn’t take them. This time we blew them off the park and we will need to perform like that again on Sunday.
“Aberavon topped the table in the first part of the season and we did the same in the second, so it is the best two teams in the Premiership playing against each other. It should be a fitting final.
“We will do our homework on them, concentrate on ourselves and look forward to a great occasion. The effort put into the club by the playing staff and management to get this far has been superb.
“We will be quietly confident, as I’m sure they will be, but we know we have to turn up with our ‘A’ game.”
The game could give Aberavon’s record try scorer Richard Carter the chance to play against his former team mates, while Merthyr’s leading points scorer Matthew Jarvis will also be playing against his first club. He helped the Ironmen win the WRU National Championship last season.
The game will be arguably the biggest in the 141 years history of Merthyr RFC. They were one of the founder member teams of the South Wales Challenge Cup in 1877 and then one of the 11 clubs at the meeting that founded the Welsh Football Union in Neath in 1881.
