PONTYPOOL are bracing themselves for a direct approach from Tata Steel in the battle of the unbeaten teams in the WRU Championship.

Pooler head to Margam Sports Ground with a slight advantage over their hosts thanks to picking up one more bonus point from their five victories.

Last season the Gwent side enjoyed a double over Tata with a 50-14 home win in December and a 39-24 victory in Port Talbot in April.

However, head coach Leighton Jones knows that his side have to produce their best display of the season to keep their winning streak going after running 11 tries past Dunvant last weekend.

“Tata have been a decent team for the last couple of years and signed some good players from Glynneath and Bridgend Athletic in the summer, so we expected them to be up at the top end of the table,” he said.

“It will be a tough game because they are powerful up front while they have strong-running centres. We have prepared for them having a direct and physical approach.

“That’s a challenge that we have to meet head-on, as a pack we have been making progress and we will also need our game management to be good.

“We are in good shape after starting the season a little bit rusty and we are starting to see the benefits of the hard work in training putting little improvements in place.

“Last week’s win against Dunvant (69-17) was our best overall team performance and the second half was our gameplan down to a T.”

Pooler scored 45 unanswered points last weekend and make just one change to the XV with Marc Thorley coming into midfield for Dan Robinson.

Newbridge are third from bottom after being beaten 20-0 at Newcastle Emlyn last weekend.

Today they host a Cardiff Met side who made a bright start to the season but who have lost their last two to Narberth and Beddau.

‘Bridge won their last Welfare Ground encounter against Bedlinog and will hope to avenge a home defeat when the sides met last season. ‘The Pigs’ won 19-13 in Cyncoed but the students got revenge with a 41-32 triumph in April.

Fixtures: Beddau v Glamorgan Wanderers, Dunvant v Bedlinog, Glynneath v Newcastle Emlyn, Newbridge v Cardiff Met, Skewen v Narberth, Tata Steel v Pontypool