The Premiership newcomers finished the league in second place and beat Cross Keys 27-17 in last Saturday’s play-off to reach Sunday’s finale (Sardis Road, 4pm).
And despite facing the formidable challenge of triple winners Pontypridd, head coach Jason Strange and scrum half Rhys Downes believe their side will benefit from going into the game as underdogs.
“It’s a massive challenge to go down and play Ponty in the final,” said Pontypridd product Downes. “They are hands down the form team in semi-professional rugby for the last few years and have a brilliant record at home.
“They are a complete team, strong all over the park. Nevertheless, we have been playing well recently and will be full of confidence on Sunday and ready to give it a good crack. We think we have found a few chinks in Ponty’s armour that we can expose so we will look forward to testing that out on Sunday.
“Owen Williams and I obviously have some inside knowledge having played here so that sometimes helps when it comes to knowing the traits of certain players, but one thing is for sure, we will go there with nothing to lose on Sunday and give it our all.”
Downes believes the secret to the Steelmen’s success this year is simple. “It’s down to a hard-working mentality and consistency – the club kept most of the squad who’d been together for the last few years, and that’s paying off now, we are a very tight knit group.”
Despite only being promoted from the SSE SWALEC Championship at the end of last season, Downes revealed the club was ambitious about this season’s campaign from the off.
“The target at the start of the year was always to make the play-offs, but everything’s a bonus from here. This is a culmination of five years of hard work from everyone at the club which is now bearing fruit. It’s just great to be involved in such a big occasion as this.”
Head coach Jason Strange added, “Pontypridd have been the standard bearers of semi-professional rugby for the last five years so it’s remarkable to be playing them in the final, it’s the result of a huge amount of work on and off the field at Ebbw Vale.
“It’s really exciting that two clubs with such huge history will be competing for the title on Sunday and I’m sure the support will be tremendous for both sides.
“Our approach will be to play with no fear. There’s no pressure on us whatsoever and that will work in our favour. We have to be bold, be positive with the ball and hopefully we’ll be rewarded for that.
“I’m certainly hoping to see our captain Damien Hudd lifting the trophy on Sunday. There’s a lot to do before that happens but there’s no harm in being positive and aiming for the top prize.”
Sunday’s final will be broadcast on S4C.
