A 31-12 away win at Haverfordwest, completed the series of pre-season friendly fixtures in match practice for the Otters

Interviewed immediately after the match, director of rugby Jonathan Dodd said: "We were pleased to get a win in this match which was a useful exercise.

"We faced a young Haverfordwest side that got stuck-in in the way that Waunarlwydd could play in our opening fixture there at the start of the season."

Quality fullback Roger Davies has been forced to retire for health reasons, but will remain at the club as part of the coaching team. The other departures are the return of centre Lee Glanville to his old club Whitland and prop Justin Hughes has decided to see out his career at Llangennech.

Otherwise, the Narberth squad is the same as last year, plus some new players. Specialist full back and utility-back Jonathan Morgan has rejoined the club from Whitland and will be accompanied by another former Whitland player centre Aled Jones.

There will be two new props challenging for places, namely Nathan Bowen from Cardigan and Lewis Davies from Pembroke, who along with another new face, hooker Gareth Jones, will be able to exert pressure on the existing incumbents.

Livewire scrum-half Rhys Davies has returned to the Otters from Newcastle Emlyn and will compete with established number nines Adrian Killa and Andrew Davies to fill the half-back berth alongside his brother Aled who plays at outside-half.

There will also be strong competition for places in some of the other positions, such as the back three where, although Jonathan Morgan is a stand-out player, there are three other contenders for a regular spot, namely wings Tom Bonnell and Nick Jones, together with Mark Heywood, who can play on either wing as well as at centre.

Dodd believes that there will be competition for all places in the team, but what is his aim for the new season before the league structure is reorganised once again?

He said: "We have youngsters coming through such as flanker Jake Iles together with new squad members Gareth Jones and Aled Jones.

"We would like to finish in the top four in the table and at the same time integrate some young players into the team. If we can achieve this aim, the season will be regarded as a success."

Supporters always want to see what they regard as the best team out on the park for every fixture, so that if Dodd and his coaching team can achieve this delicate balancing act, it will indeed be an excellent season for the Narberth club.