Wales Dragonhearts host England Lions this Saturday at Ynys Park in Port Talbot in the final game of their autumn series (kick-off 2.30pm).
The representative side of the community game in Wales faced England a fortnight ago in Port Talbot and put in an admirable performance in defeat, but head coach Simon Reynolds knows his side must pull out all the stops to beat the Lions for the first time ever.
He says: “We’re all really looking forward the the finale of our 2023 Dragonhearts programme. A lot of work has gone in from a lot of people over the past 6 or so weeks in preparation and I thank them all personally for their input.
“In game one, we played really well over in Dublin, from meeting up in Colwyn Bay on the Friday morning to getting back on the Sunday afternoon, the trip was a huge success.
“Two weeks ago, we came up against a youthful England outfit that has class all over the field, but for the first 25 minutes I thought we were the better side. It was just errors coming out of our own 20 causing a bit of panic to concede points.
“We will work on those things pre-game this weekend and when it comes to kick-off on Saturday we will be ready for another tough encounter.
“I’d like to thank all who have supported us this season, especially our main kit sponsors, JES Group, 15travel.com, Haus Aesthetics, Cynffig Motor Factors and DKCC Ltd.”
Reynolds will name his side after their final training session on Friday evening.
The curtain-raiser is a very special match that launches the Aberavon Fighting Irish PDRL side as they face Team Colostomy UK (kick-off noon).
Colostomy UK is a charity that supports and empowers people living with a stoma. They run projects to empower ostomates to return to sports, hobbies and other interests, and give them the confidence to take up fresh challenges. In 2018 they formed their own Rugby League side to prove that a stoma is no barrier to playing even the toughest of contact sports.
Admission to the whole day is just £5 for adults, £2 for concessions and children.