Super League will be back in Cardiff next Saturday when Salford Red Devils’ academy side take on their counterparts from South Wales Scorpions as part of Big Welsh Derby day at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park.
It will be the biggest challenge yet for the Welsh youngsters who have so far taken on their counterparts from Hemel Stags, Oxford, Halifax, Longhorns from Ireland and the Bridgend Blue Bulls first team, but this is the first time that the cream of the young talent in South Wales will come up against full-time opposition.
The match is the second in a big day of Rugby League at the famous stadium. The day starts at 12.30pm with a Conference League South match between local rivals Valley Cougars and Torfaen Tigers. The academy game is at 2.30pm before the Big Welsh Derby between South Wales Scorpions and North Wales Crusaders in Kingstone Press League 1 concludes the day at 5pm.
The sides will both be coached by Wales internationals with Garreth Carvell, the former Wales and Great Britain international and current assistant coach of the full Wales side, now head of youth at Salford Red Devils.
Carvell can’t wait to visit South Wales and see how Rugby League is developing.
He said: “The Salford Academy are really looking forwards to the derby day in Wales and are excited to be a part of such a great event.
“The game will be an opportunity for players from both sides to try and prove their worth and cement a place in the team so it promises to be a very good game.
“The standard of Rugby League in Wales has improved dramatically so we’re expecting a very tough game and to be put under pressure from the kick off, we’ll have to be on our game and put in a top drawer performance so the pressure is on.
“It’s certainly going to be a good test for us and with the crowd no doubt rooting for the home team the atmosphere will be a good one. I’d like to thank South Wales Scorpions for the opportunity to head over and be part of what promises to be a fantastic day.”
Paul Emanuelli coaches the Scorpions set-up and he says that his side have trained hard in order to face their Super League opponents.
He said: “With all focus at the club on our two big games this Saturday against Salford and Crusaders, training has been full of excitement and people really pushing for selection.
“We prepared well against Oxford reserves two weeks and we had a good training game hit out against Wales Students last weekend which will really helped our preparation.
“We’ll have a real go at training this week and try to put a few little things right as we know Salford is going to be a huge challenge for us and probably the biggest game some of these lads will ever be involved in.
“It’s going to be a busy day for me as I’ll be coaching the reserves then putting my boots on to take on the Crusaders. I’m sure I’ll also have a look at the Valley Cougars v Torfaen Tigers game too having played and coached the Cougars in the past.
“It really will be a fantastic day, this is always the highlight of the domestic season in South Wales and we all look forward to it.”
Tickets for the whole day cost just £10 for adults, £5 concessions and £1 for juniors. Hospitality tickets are priced at £30 per person or £250 for a table of ten. This ticket includes access to all three matches plus a celebrity dinner featuring the three former Wales and Great Britain stars. They can be bought by going to www.scorpionsrl.com.
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