Bedwas go into the big Boxing Day clash against Gwent rivals Ebbw Vale with a renewed sense of purpose following the bonus point earning performance against Merthyr last time out.

Speaking ahead of the match Head Coach Stefan Sankala said “Ebbw Vale have had a mostly successful season and will be full of confidence coming to us on Boxing Day. Greg (Woods) has embedded a squad that are efficient at set piece, hungry to perform and host a number of quality backs that steer their ship. All of which add to the difficult challenge ahead for us. We know how important it is to kick start our journey into 2019 and there’s no hiding from the fact we are searching for points. That said we are concentrating on putting a performance together and hopefully show our home support our improvements”

There are changes to the fifteen that started against Merthyr.

Craig Hudd  returns from his winter break with Brynley Toms and Rhys Hutcherson joining Mike Dacey in the front row. Jonny Armitage comes into the back row to partner Bradley Hill and Dale Rogers.

The starting backs are unchanged from those that started against Merthyr.

On the bench we welcome Dan Crimmins and Kieron Hughes on permit from St Peters and Senghenydd respectively.

The twenty three man squad is: 15. Joe Scrivens, 14. George Gasson, 13. Tom Hoppe, 12. Adam Williams, 11. Kane Teear-Bourge, 10. Dion McIntosh, 9. Tom Rowlands; 1. Brynley Toms, 2. Mike Dacey, 3. Rhys Hutcherson, 4. Craig Hudd, 5. Gareth Allen, 6. Bradley Hill, 7. Jonathan Armitage, 8. Dale Rogers ©.

Replacements: 16. Ramaz Rukhadze, 17. Chris Budgen, 18. Phil Williams, 19. Kieron Hughes, 20. Dan Crimmins, 21. Rory Harries, 22. Ben White, 23. Callum Williams