Scorpions target Northern Rail Bowl Final
South Wales Scorpions are set to make a realistic challenge to reach the 2013 Northern Rail Bowl Final after the new competition was announced today.
The inaugural Northern Rail Bowl final will be contested by the two Kingstone Press Championship One clubs who top their respective Northern Rail Cup groups prior to the knock-out stages of the tournament.
Should a Championship One club reach the Northern Rail Cup Final then the club placed second in the group will play in the Bowl final.
The Northern Rail Bowl Final will be staged before the Northern Rail Cup Final with both games to be played at The Shay in Halifax on Saturday July 20.
The Scorpions’ Northern Rail Cup campaign starts on Sunday 3rd March when they take on London Skolars at The Gnoll in Neath (kick-off 3pm) and coach Dave Clark believes that this new extraordinary twist will make the competition extra special.
“I won’t pull any punches, for Championship One sides, the Northern Rail Cup has often been seen as a pre-season tournament,” he said.
“We know we’ve got little chance of winning the Northern Rail Cup as there are so many good Championship sides who are preparing to apply for Super League.
“However we are in with a very realistic chance of reaching the Northern Rail Bowl Final and that gives our first four games of the season extra importance. We have a chance of winning some silverware here and getting to a Cup Final. It’s still going to be very tough of course but it’s realistic.”
The Scorpions and the Crusaders are in different groups in the Northern Rail Cup which gives the possibility of an all Welsh Final for the first team in history in any professional national rugby competition.
“It would be fantastic for the sport in Wales if we could both reach the Final,” Clark adds. “But we’ve a long way to go first. Our initial opponents London Skolars will be looking at this too and thinking they can go all the way while I’m sure Oxford and Gloucester also have big ambitions in their first year. It’s certainly going to be exciting and it means we’re looking forward to the season even more.”
South Wales Scorpions season tickets, which includes entry to all Northern Rail Cup group matches as well as the kingstone Press Championship 1, can be bought by going to www.scorpionsrl.com.
The 2013 Northern Rail Cup kicks off over the weekend of March 2-3 when eight Championship One clubs enter the group stages. The top club in each of the two pools will then join the 14 Championship clubs in the knock-out stages, which commence on the weekend of May 18-19.