Sunday 5th September 2010
Co-operative Championship 1 Play-offs First Round
Rochdale Hornets v South Wales Scorpions (Spotlands, Rochdale, 3pm)
Co-operative Rugby League Conference Premier - National Semi-Final
Valley Cougars v St Albans Centurions (Swindon St George RLFC, 2pm)
Co-operative Rugby League Conference Championship - National Semi-Final
Neath Port Talbot Steelers v Northampton Demons (Swindon St George RLFC, 4pm)
Three of South Wales' rugby league clubs have big games on Sunday that will make or break their respective seasons.
South Wales Scorpions, Valley Cougars and Neath Port Talbot Steelers travel to England knowing that defeat will end their respective 2010 campaigns but wins will see them progress further to title glories.
The Scorpions are in the first round of the Co-operative Championship 1 play-offs at Rochdale Hornets (3pm).
They travel to Greater Manchester as massive underdogs having lost at the same ground a month ago coupled with an injury crisis at the wrong time of the season.
They have done well to finish sixth in their first season and coach Anthony Seibold says that anything that they do from now is a bonus.
"We didn't even talk about qualifying for the play-offs at the start of the season," he said. "Our only goal really was to be competitive, so to get this far in our first season with so many players new to professional rugby league is a great achievement.
"We've had 24 Welsh born and bred players in our squad this year which is great for the development of the sport in Wales."
The Cougars and The Steelers both face tough tests in semi-final matches in a double header in Swindon.
Valley Cougars take on St Albans Centurions in the semi-final of the Co-operative Conference Premier (kick-off 2pm). The Cougars qualified by beating Bridgend Blue Bulls in the Welsh Grand Final a fortnight ago.
They hope to be the first Welsh side to qualify for the national final in five years and Team Manager Clive Batchelor is quietly confident that they can pull it off.
"We've a full squad barring injuries," he said. "However most of our players will have to play rugby union on Saturday too so fingers crossed that we're unscathed.
"We're quietly confident. If all of our lads play to their ability, we could do it. I don't know a lot about St Albans but we know that they have had an excellent season and like us, they've only lost one game. It'll be tight and the boys know that this will be their toughest test yet."
In a battle of rugby league sides from two famous rugby union areas, Neath Port Talbot Steelers take on Northampton Demons for a place in the Co-operative Rugby League Conference Championship Grand Final (kick-off 4pm).
It's the first time that Wales have had entrants in this particular semi-final as the second tier in the Conference was only introduced in Wales for the 2010 season.
But unlike the Cougars, the Steelers have already had to play two national play-off matches since their Welsh Championship Grand Final win four weeks ago and have successfully seen off Exeter Centurions 36-28 and Elmbridge Eagles 72-22.
But now they take on a Northampton side who have excelled in 2010 losing just the one game so far.
Steelers Head coach Richard Lewis said: "We're quite confident as we had a good win in our last game but I see Northampton have won well this year and they're very organised.
"It'll be a tough game for us but we like a challenge and we're ready to step up a gear. We're taking a similar squad to the team we've fielded last couple of weeks with only one or two changes, we'll go there with confidence and hope to get the win. It'll be good to see all the Welsh sides get through."
