By Tom Little
October 1 2015

...Saturday 3rd October 2015 including Coventry Rugby v Plymouth Albion.

Fixtures Week 5 Saturday 3rd October

Ampthill & District       v       Darlington Mowden Park

Blaydon                          v       Hartpury College

Cinderford                     v       Loughborough Students

Coventry Rugby            v        Plymouth Albion

Esher                              v        Richmond

Fylde                              v         Hull Ionians

Henley Hawks               v        Wharfedale

Rosslyn Park                  v        Blackheath      

Week 5 sees the top three sides all capable of consolidating their lead at the top, with Richmond and Coventry Rugby waiting for any slip up.

Unbeaten leaders Rosslyn Park have fellow Londoners Blackheath as their visitors. Both sides have made impressive starts to the season with the Blackheath pack being a force against the teams they have met so far. However in Rosslyn Park Blackheath might meet their match especially in the back-row. Overall Park should be too strong up front but Blackheath usually play well in these local derbies as they are still capable of causing an upset.

The only other unbeaten side Ampthill & District, who could only draw at home to Henley, now have Darlington Mowden Park visiting. Park have had only one win so far as a number of new players have taken time to bed in, but the experienced home pack should be too strong for the visitors.A good test for Ampthill to see if they can keep their unbeaten run going.

Although Hartpury College may have been disappointed with the nature of their home win last Saturday, which has taken them up to third place, they must still be confident as they travel to bottom side Blaydon. Difficult to put a finger on why Blaydon have struggled with basically the same side as last season, it could be a case that other sides have improved more. Provided College can more than match the home pack then the away side are expected to make it 4 wins in a row.

The battle of West London sees 5th placed Richmond visit Esher. Richmond’s first half performance in beating Coventry was excellent and if they can maintain the same amount of focus and determination to beat an Esher side, who although are capable of mounting a strong challenge seem to lack consistency.

Coventry Rugby, whose last two games has seen them slump to defeat, entertain one of their old Championship foes Plymouth Albion. Another game that Coventry will have to play far better to get anything over a Plymouth Albion side who have starting to settle in this league despite so many new faces. A full preview of this game will follow.

Hull Ionians, who have made a steady start on their re-introduction to NL1 travel to Fylde, who by their own admission have made a poor start with only one win. The finishing prowess of the home backs is well known, but if the Hull Ionians forwards can restrict possession then they have a chance to sneak a win at the Woodlands.   

Henley Hawks who surprised many , and probably themselves with their draw away at Ampthill have the chance to get a home win , this time over Wharfedale.  Dale who had a thumping win away at Blaydon and then lost to the then bottom club Cinderford, need to get a steak of consistency to stay clear of danger. Henley also need the win to keep them clear so a nervous close contest is expected.

The final game sees the battle of two of the bottom four as Cinderford take on Loughborough Students. Both sides will be pleased at winning for the first time last Saturday, but home advantage and confidence might just swing it for the Foresters.

COVENTRY RUGBY V PLYMOUTH ALBION MATRCH PREVIEW SATURDAY 3RD OCTOBER 2015

This coming Saturday 3rd October 2015 at the Butts Park Arena sees Coventry Rugby take on old Championship rivals Plymouth Albion for a 3pm kick off. Founded in about 1920 after the merger of Plymouth RFC (founded 1875) and Devonport Albion RFC (founded 1876), they played at the Beacon Park ground until 2003, and then moved to their current ground The Brickfields.

Promoted to the old NL1 now the Championship in 2001, they met Coventry Rugby for the first time at the BPA in 2004/5 resulting in a draw, Albion have beaten Coventry Rugby twice at the BPA in seasons 2005/6 and 2008/9, and in the next season 2009/10 the one that Coventry was relegated, Coventry won the home fixture 26-10 and lost the away 3-20. In meetings between both sides in various leagues Plymouth and Coventry have won 9 apiece with one drawn. Albion were relegated from the Championship after finishing bottom last season. Financial problems came to a head  last season, and were just saved from administration. After a poor start to last season DOR James Shanahan was removed with Graham Dawe resuming the post he had earlier held. It was however too late to save Albion from relegation.

Following relegation only 4 members of the squad were retained, with well over 25 new recruits the majority of which came from the Cornish All Blacks ( Launceston) , Redruth and the Cornwall County representatives who won the County final, replacing the 23 who left.

Currently they are in 8th place on 10 points compared to Coventry Rugby’s 6th place with 11 points. Like Coventry they have won 2 and lost 2 games. In their first game of the season they beat Richmond 33-20 at home and lost narrowly at home to league favourites Rosslyn Park 15-16. They then went to Hull Ionians losing narrowly 25-21, and last Saturday at home beat Fylde 31-24.

Despite having virtually a new squad Graham Dawe has largely been able to pick a side which is starting to settle, with a large contingent coming in from Launceston and Cornwall County, who have had the benefit of having played together.

Half-backs Cameron Setter at No 9 and Mark Koteczky at No 10 or full-back remain as does No 8 Herbie Stupple and hooker James Penman.

Some experienced players have been recruited with centre/ wing Ethan Ford from Randwick, Nile Dacres-flanker/No 8 from Moseley, Tom Bedford centre from Esher and lock Dan Collier from London Welsh/ Ealing Tfs. There are a large number of Launceston players including centre and captain Jake Murphy, a front row of Ollie Dawe and Christian Judge, flanker Andy Chesters and fly-half and goal-kicker Billy Searle, as well as wing / scrum-half Matt Shepherd. There are number of players including loans from Exeter Chiefs including lock Ed Holmes and prop Dan Pullinger. Front rowers Dean Brooker has come in from the Cornish Pirates  and Rupert Freestone from Clifton. Tom Putt at full-back is earning plaudits for his broken field play and wing Reti Raumakita from the Royal Navy is causing problems on the wing.

There are signs that this basically new squad are working well together and although Graham Dawe is famed for producing a combative pack it is his recruitment of elusive and speedy backs that can cause the problems.

The Butts Park Arena is expecting the biggest NL1 crowd of the season as these two old rivals face each other as both teams cannot afford to fall further behind leaders Rosslyn Park. Kick-off is at the normal time of 3 pm for this crucial game.

Tom Little

Coventry Rugby press office.

30th September 2015.

Week 5 - round 5 NL1 rugby previews...

Discussion started by Unofficial Coventry Rugby (IP Logged), 01/10/2015 15:14

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