Coventry
National league 1 week 25 - round 25...
By Tom Little.
March 4 2014
8th March 2014 match previews including Coventry Rugby v Loughborough Students.
Fixtures Week 25 - 8th March 2014.
Blaydon v Old Albanian
Cinderford v Worthing Raiders
Coventry Rugby v Loughborough Students
Esher v Doncaster Knights
Henley Hawks v Wharfedale
Hull Ionians v Fylde
Richmond v Blackheath
Rosslyn Park v Tynedale
The battle for supremacy between Doncaster Knights and Rosslyn Park continues apace with both facing potentially difficult fixtures this Saturday. A win for leaders Doncaster with a loss for Rosslyn Park could leave Park too much to do to snatch the title.
It is even more intriguing at the other end with still technically 8 teams trying to avoid the three relegation places. It is indeed crunch time especially for Henley Hawks and the meeting between Cinderford and Worthing Raiders who all need the win to give them a chance to avoid the drop.
Leaders Doncaster Knights travel to 5th place Esher confident in the knowledge that despite not playing at the top of their game they are still winning and with bonus points as well. Esher were outmuscled last week at relegation threatened Tynedale and need to get their game back on track if they have any chance at all of matching Doncaster’s better all round game and finishing prowess. Doncaster will be firm favourites for the win to put even more pressure on Rosslyn Park.
Rosslyn Park, who themselves have been struggling to get their fluency back and by all accounts found it difficult to beat the Loughborough Students, have a fast improving Tynedale as their visitors. Tynedale, although close to the relegation area have recently won 6 out of their last 8 games still need to get something out of this game to give them a reasonable chance of safety. The Dale pack has been in great form especially with their use of the driving maul and a titanic battle is expected against the much vaunted Rosslyn Park pack. A game too close to call but a loss for Park would surely end their promotion hopes.
The Butts Park Arena sees Coventry Rugby looking for their fourth successive win to cement their recently acquired third place, have their closest neighbours Loughborough Students as visitors. The Students, whose recent form has been poor, evidently put up a storming display in their one point loss against Rosslyn Park so Coventry Rugby cannot afford to take this game too lightly. A full match preview will follow at the end of this general preview.
Fourth placed Fylde should find their visit to bottom side Hull Ionians more to their liking than last week’s defeat by Coventry. Last week’s loss by the home side will see them confirmed as being relegated back to National League 2 after their brief visit to League 1, but pride at home may prove to be more of a levelling process. However Fylde should have enough try scoring ability to comfortably win this encounter and keep pressure on for a top three finish.
Two sides just in the top half of the table Blaydon and Old Albanian meet in the north-east. The home side will be both encouraged and disappointed with their narrow loss at Doncaster, where by all accounts they could have won it. Old Albanian probably require just one more win to guarantee safety but the home form and power of the Blaydon pack should give them an easy victory, as they need to keep pressure on Esher in fifth place.
Wharfedale now safe in 7th place travel to Henley Hawks, whose recent poor form has seen them slip into the second relegation place and 7 points from safety. Certainly a must win for Henley who have only won once since the start of January, if they have any pretensions of surviving in this league. Although not always at their best away, Wharfedale have a real chance to pick something up from this fixture.
Two form sides both from London, Richmond and Blackheath meet at the Athletic Ground. With each side still needing one win for safety, a close and nervous game is in prospect with no quarter given. A difficult one to predict for these two well matched sides, with the home side slight favourites for the win.
The final game is arguably the most interesting and difficult one to predict as the two sides are battling to avoid relegation with Cinderford having Worthing Raiders as their visitors. Despite Cinderford having three games in hand they still need the points on the board and are still 6 points behind Worthing for the final relegation place. Worthing Raiders gave themselves confidence in last week’s home bonus point win over Hull Ionians whilst Cinderford could get nothing out of their loss at Blackheath. With some of Worthing’s injured players now back it could be a lot closer than first expected but the home forward power and finishing should just give Cinderford the edge.
Coventry Rugby v Loughborough Students match preview.
This Saturday 8th March 2014 sees Coventry Rugby entertain their closest neighbours Loughborough Students, here at the Butts Park Arena, with kick off as usual at 3pm.
Recent contrasting form has seen Coventry Rugby climb into third place with them now on 77 match points and 16 wins, both a record since their relegation to National League 1, with them already completing a record 4 winning doubles. This could be increased to 5 with a win over the Students who earlier in the season were beaten 45-22 by Coventry Rugby. Loughborough Students form has recently suffered with them now on a losing run of 5 games, however four of these five losses have come against the top 5 sides, and their performance last week in losing by just one point to Rosslyn Park should prove a salutary lesson to any feeling of complacency by Coventry Rugby.
Founded in 1919 the merger of the Loughborough Colleges in 1976/77 saw the club renamed Loughborough Students Rugby Club. After joining the National Leagues, movement through the leagues has been impressive being promoted to this league at the start of last season. Under Director of Rugby Dave Morris and Head Coach Hayden Coley, Loughborough Students are currently in 11th place on 52 match points with 10 wins, 1 draw and 13 losses. Despite an excellent start to the season with 5 wins out of 6, seeing them in a top three position, their form has dipped alarmingly. Notable scalps earlier in the season included a home win over Fylde and impressive away wins at Blaydon and Wharfedale, however as we have recently seen a straight losing run of 5 has put them within sight of the danger zone requiring possibly two wins for safety.
Pre-season saw a large number of the team leave for contracts at Championship and Premiership clubs but there is a sprinkling of Premiership players playing for the Students such as Leicester Tigers pair, prop Harry Rudkin and flanker Harry Wells and prop Danny Herriott already well known to Coventry Rugby, as well as established players such as winger Craig Dowsett, and the Pons brothers Jack and Ben, with full-back Jack their leading try scorer on 12.
Other forwards include flankers James Freeman and Eoin Cremen with Jake Alban at lock and recent addition No 8 Ali Bone. There is some speed amongst the backs with centres George Eastwell and Rhys Owen with goal-kicker Alex Davis, who is also a centre and the experienced Chris Surman at No 10 with his impressive half-back partner scrum-half Henry Taylor.
A game that Coventry Rugby cannot be too complacent about, if they want to maintain their third position and put down a marker for a challenge for promotion next season. The Students will be fighting for their lives to escape the threat of relegation and we know from previous encounters that they have the fitness and speed to attack from all parts of the field, if they can get their discipline problems under control.
The Coventry club would like to thank all their many supporters who made the long journey to the seaside last Saturday and were rewarded with possibly Coventry Rugby’s finest professional away performance of the season in putting away Fylde and in the process moving up to a creditable third position.
Another large home crowd attendance is expected to cement Coventry Rugby as having the largest crowds of National League 1 as the club continues to break their own records in this their fourth National League 1 season.
Tom Little
Coventry Rugby press office
4th March 2014
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon
04/03/2014 12:25
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
More Coventry headlines
- The Morning After The Night Before
- The Playoff Stakes - 2026
- Matt Gallagher - An Appreciation
- John Wilkinson (4.5.1951 - 21.1.2026) - The Last Farewell
- “ Peace In Our Time?” No chance!
- Murder at The Rectory
- Paul’s Perilous Positional Predictions, 2025/2026
- The Champ 2025/2026 Preview and Predictions - Part 2
- The Champ 2025/2026 - Preview and Predictions