PONTYPOOL head coach Louie Tonkin is determined to ensure the woeful weather doesn't derail their promotion push after their Swalec Cup tie with Bedwas was postponed.

A pre-match downpour led to the round one tie at Pontypool Park being called off at 1.30pm to the disappointment of both squads, although the decision was the right one.

The Gwent rivals have provisionally agreed to play the fixture on Saturday as Pooler are pencilled in to host Swalec Championship leaders Merthyr, whose cup encounter at Narberth was also postponed, while Bedwas have a free weekend.

Tonkin has his fingers crossed that the game will get the green light because he doesn't want his side, who are third in the league in their bid for one of four promotion slots, to face a hectic run-in.

"Nobody wants to be chasing promotion and playing two games a week," he said. "It's difficult but we have the luxury of the Six Nations period when there are weekends free.

"There's plenty of time to get them played but we've got a backlog of three games now and they are important ones – RGC 1404 and Bargoed (both promotion rivals) in the league and Bedwas in the cup.

"The challenge is keeping the training environment going so we are trying to keep on top of things in the gym at Will Power Weightlifting Club, doing a lot of analysis and training on the artificial pitch at West Mon.

"We are keeping things going but we just want to get out there and play."

That frustration is shared by Bedwas, who saw their last Premiership outing at Cross Keys postponed and who are set to travel to Pandy Park in the Foster's Challenge Cup on Wednesday.

Their squad were put through their paces by conditioning coach Stefan Sankala on the bank at Pontypool Park after the postponement but are desperate for proper action.

Forwards coach Ian Gardner said: "Steve (Law, head coach) will have a lot of phone calls ahead of Wednesday! There will be quite a few permit players while some of our boys will have to double-up. That's never easy but you get on with it."

And Bedwas, eighth in the top flight, expect a stern challenge when they return to Pooler.

"They have a lot of Premiership experience in their side with the likes of Jamie Jeune, Dan Robinson, Rhys Dyer, Ryan Harford," said Gardner.

"We know it will be a big challenge because Pontypool have only lost twice in the league, both to Swansea, and are a decent outfit.

"We expected a blood and thunder game and an arm-wrestle. That will be the same next weekend.

"You know what you will get at Pontypool Park and we will be facing a side desperate to beat a Premiership team.

"We've got to rise to that, play our own game and if we do we have enough to beat them. If we don't and we are not on the money then we will have a tough afternoon and the boys know that."

Pooler's main focus is promotion but Tonkin doesn't see the Bedwas cup clash as an unwelcome distraction.

He said: "We had some guys coming back from injury and were taking the game very seriously – we wanted to use it as a measuring tool against a consistent side like Bedwas. We wanted to put in a shift in front of a big crowd but it wasn't to be."

The weather hit the other round one games hard with just five Saturday games played in horrendous conditions – Pontyppridd edging out Swansea 18-11 at St Helen's, Llanelli winning 15-7 at Tata Steel, Llandovery sneaking past Cardiff 9-6, Newcastle Emlyn winning 24-3 at Glynneath and RGC 1404 drubbing Llanharan 93-0.