CROSS Keys will renew their fierce WRU National Cup rivalry with Pontypridd later this month after being paired with them in the last four of this season’s competition.

Today's draw pitted Keys against the side they beat 32-19 to lift the trophy in 2012 but then lost 21-8 to in the final two years later.

Pontypridd also defeated Keys 33-27 in a thrilling 2015 semi-final at Cardiff Arms Park, while there have been four other Welsh cup meetings between the teams this century.

Keys beat Glynneath, Neath and Pontypool to reach their fifth semi in the last six seasons, while six-times winners Pontypridd have overcome Cardiff Met, Newport and Carmarthen Quins.

The semi-final clash will take place on the weekend of March 24-25 with a neutral venue to be confirmed.

North Walians RGC 1404 will face big-spending Merthyr for the right to face either Keys or Pontypridd at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff at the end of the campaign.

“It’s an excellent draw,” said Keys head coach Greg Woods. “We’ve got a lot of history with Pontypridd in the cup and this game will be another part of that story.

“It will be another fantastic occasion for everyone involved and I’m really looking forward to it.

“There is going to be a supercharged atmosphere wherever the match is played.

“We had a good game with them in the league on New Year’s Eve (Pontypridd won 31-22 at Sardis Road), they were just a bit more streetwise in the contact area.”

Reflecting on Keys’ 2012 triumph – the only time they have won the cup in their history – over Pontypridd, Woods added: “It was just a fantastic day.

“We were behind and then Gerwyn Price scored a screamer of a try which gave us the momentum.

“We had a real siege mentality towards the end to keep them out and then Nathan Trowbridge’s try clinched it.”