Jones believes Neath could cause final upset

FOLLOWING their convincing win over Cardiff on Saturday, Neath coach Lyn Jones is not writing off his side’s chances of an upset in the final of the Celtic League against Munster.

The Welsh All-Blacks face Alan Gaffney's side at the Millennium Stadium on February 1, and surely go into the Celtic League final as underdogs. However, Jones is confident his side could win against the odds.

"If we would have struggled to a two or three point win over Cardiff then we would basically have no chance against Munster. But to win in the manner we did shows we can compete against them.

Of Munster he coyly added: "They are a huge team, let's be honest. But I did notice that on their bench they had one fella who hadn't had international honours yet. So there is a weakness there."

With regard to his side's semi-final win over Cardiff, Jones added: "Once we scored for the first time in the second half, that was curtains for Cardiff. It meant they had to score two or three times, and that just wasn't going to happen. They kept fighting, but once your scrum and lineout goes, you're in big trouble.

"We're the first Welsh team to make a Celtic League final, and we're very, very pleased with that."

Fly-half Lee Jarvis bagged 17 points, scoring one of Neath's four tries, kicking three conversions and two penalties as the power of the Welsh All Blacks proved decisive in an entertaining all-Welsh clash at The Gnoll.

Both sides had carved out impressive victories on their travels in the quarter-finals Neath at Pontypridd and Cardiff at Edinburgh. However, there never appeared any danger of an away triumph at The Gnoll.

Almost for the whole of the opening 40 minutes Cardiff were pinned back in their own half, struggling to break free from the firm grip Neath had on the game.

With the home pack dominating the line-out and causing Cardiff's scrum all sorts of problems, the capital club were unable to give their international three-quarters enough quality possession to trouble Neath.

Neath: Tries: G. Morris, Tiueti, Jarvis, Bonner-Evans. Cons: Jarvis 3. Pens: Jarvis 2.

NEATH: Durston, G. Morris, Storey, Tiueti, S. Williams, Jarvis, A. Moore, D. Jones, B. Williams, Millward, A. Newman, G. Llewellyn, Tandy, Bonner-Evans, Mocelutu.

Cardiff: Tries: Smith. Cons: Harris. Pens: Harris.

CARDIFF:R.Williams, Walne, J. Robinson, Allen, Morgan, Harris, Smith, Payne, Woods, Fourie, Sennekal, Tait, Baugh, M. Williams, E. Lewis.

Ref: Allan Lewis (Ireland).