Newport spying a Boro beating

Newport Rugby Club are hoping a spying mission in the north of England will give them the best possible chance of going all the way to Twickenham.

The Fishes entertain Middlesbrough at their Forton Road ground in the quarter-finals of the EDF Energy Intermediate Cup.

Victory would put them just one game from the final and an appearance at the home of English rugby.

And director of rugby Ray Price made sure they have done their homework by travelling up to Cumbria last weekend to record their clash with North One leaders Kendal.

Middlesbrough lost that game 31-0, but the trip gave Price a valuable insight into their style of play, while the recording has been analysed carefully by team coach Ginge Wills.

"It was a very dour game," said Price. "Middlesbrough were in trouble all through the game and couldn't cope with Kendal's forwards.

"They tend to play a stick-it-up-your-jumper game.

"They're a big physical side and we'll be looking to run them around the park.

"We've got some big players and we can play it tight and strong if we want to, but our game is to spin it out and use our backs.

"I've had a chat to Ginge and we've looked at one or two areas where they're strong and one or two areas where they're weaker and we think we can exploit them as well."

Newport have a full strength squad available for the big game, except for the notable absence of blindside flanker Gareth Wills, the coach's son, who broke his leg in the 24-18 defeat to Scunthorpe at the start of the month.

But the Fishes coped without him last weekend, turning in one of their best performances of the season to win 18-15 at Midlands One high-fliers Longton.

They ran in two excellent tries to take the points from that one and give them a much-needed confidence boost ahead of their big cup showdown.

The side gathered at Forton Road last night for their final training session ahead of that match, with Wills snr announcing his starting XV and replacements to his players.

"It was a good session and everyone is ready for the big day now," added Price.

Tomorrow's game kicks off at 2pm. Entry is £3 and free for under-16s.

By Chris Hudson