Ystalyfera RFC v Pontypool RFC

Pontypool sign off the season with a trip to Ystalyfera, looking to put their name in the history books by maintaining their unbeaten record.

No team has ever completed a 26-game Championship season without tasting defeat, yet Pooler are just one game from doing so.

Promotion to the Indigo Premiership was secured a fortnight ago and the WRU Admiral National Championship title was claimed last weekend but the players and coaches remain laser focused to seal an invincible season.

That record was almost wiped out earlier in the week at Gelligaled Park as Ystrad Rhondda ran Pontypool as close as any team has this season.

But Dai Langdon kept the dream alive with a last-gasp drop goal and revealed just how much the squad want to remain undefeated for the season.

“All that was going through my head was the season was riding on it,” said Langdon after the game.

“We obviously want an invincible season and it was riding on it at the end.

“It's massive for us.

“I’ve never been involved in an invincible season and I know a lot of the other boys haven’t either so it is something that we all want to achieve and is a good feather to have in your cap.”

All that stands between Pooler and that record is Ystalyfera, a team we haven't played against for 80 minutes in more than three years.

Pooler’s last trip to Ystalyfera resulted in an abandoned match following the hosts’ Arwel Thomas suffering a serious-looking injury. Thankfully, it was not as bad as first feared.

And the reverse fixture this season was a walkover as Ystalyfera were unable to raise a side.

That means we have to go back to January 2020 for the last full game when Pooler ran out 77-8 winners. The previous September saw Pooler bag a 38-15 win at Ynysdarren Park.

Leighton Jones and his coaching team have opted for six changes for the long trip west.

Darren Hughes comes in at hooker with Lance Randall returning in the second row.

Callum Davies and Ieuan Jones are recalled to bolster the back row.

Dai Jones, who returned off the bench on Tuesday, is named in the starting XV with Geraint Walsh finishing off the season with his 50^th Pooler appearance.