AFTER coming agonisingly close to toppling one of the Swalec Championship title contenders, Blackwood go in search of the biggest scalp in the league this afternoon.

The men from Glan-yr-Afon Park nearly stunned RGC 1404 on opening weekend but had to settle for a losing bonus point after a 12-6 defeat.

It doesn't get any easier today with a trip to St Helen's to take on a Swansea side desperate to bounce back to the Premiership at the first attempt.

The Whites got their season off to a fine start by beating Cardiff Met 35-14 on their own patch but Blackwood head coach Matthew Veater is excited by the challenge ahead.

"It's a chance for the boys to test themselves against the potential champions on their own patch," said the former lock. "We shocked RGC with how we played and hopefully we can do the same to Swansea.

"RGC put 50 points on us at home last year to deserve better than a losing bonus point bodes well for the season. The boys are buoyant and we are quietly confident of having a good year.

"Going to Swansea is exciting and numbers have been up in training all week and the sessions have been really intense.

"St Helen's is a great track for the runners and Swansea are a side that will punish teams that make mistakes, much like Ebbw Vale did last year.

"They will punish turnovers so we need to cut out the errors and force them to play because they are the ones under pressure for this game."

Pontypool will hope that the return of livewire flanker Rob Nash will help them get their season up and running when they host Llanharan this afternoon.

Pooler started poorly last weekend when thumped by Bargoed, whose imposing pack rumbled their way to a 40-3 win that suggests they could well be in the title shake-up.

Tenacious openside Nash, who captained Cross Keys to Swalec Cup glory and signed from Coventry in the summer, is sure to add some bite along with captain Ben Parry, who returns at hooker.

Pooler triumphed 34-23 when the teams met in Gwent on the final day of last season.

Newbridge will also be looking for a dramatic improvement when they host Narberth following their 62-0 hammering at the hands of Tondu.

'Bridge have plenty of new players that need to settle as they attempt to improve on a 2013/14 campaign that saw them narrowly avoid the drop.

Last season Newbridge were edged out 6-5 in Narberth before being thrashed 36-3 on their own turf.

Other fixtures: Bridgend Athletic v Glynneath, Merthyr v Tondu, RGC 1404 v Bargoed, Tata Steel v Cardiff Met