High Tempo Action Expected At The Mennaye

Posted on Oct 26, 2012 in Cornish Pirates

After two weeks of winning Cup action for the Cornish Pirates, high level Championship rugby will return to the Mennaye Field on Sunday for the always eagerly awaited visit of Leeds Carnegie.

With ‘Halloween’ all but upon us the Cornish Pirates will be looking to give Leeds Carnegie a real fright, but in what is likely to be a high tempo affair they also know it’ll be tough, as it should be.

To add extra spice to the game, four former Pirates, namely wing David Doherty, scrum-half James Doherty, and locks Mike Myerscough and Matt Smith could well feature for the visiting Yorkshire side against a home team that will be led for the second week running by No. 8 Laurie McGlone.

Changes in the Cornish Pirates line-up from the team that enjoyed Cup success last week in Scotland, sees front-row returns for prop Alan Paver and hooker Rob Elloway, whilst Gary Johnson will partner Darren Barry in the second-row.

Four returning backs are fly-half Kieran Hallett, wing Matt Evans, who is the equal top try-scorer in the Championship this season, and the centre pairing of Junior Fatialofa and Tom Riley. Club captain Gavin Cattle has returned to fitness and is named on the bench.

Cornish Pirates: J. Nowell, G. Pointer, T. Riley, J. Fatialofa, M. Evans, K. Hallett, T. Kessell, L. McGlone (capt), P. Burgess, B. Maidment, G. Johnson, D. Barry, A. Paver, R. Elloway, P. Andrew.

Replacements: R. Storer, J. Yeandle, B. Prescott, D. Lyons, G. Cattle, A. Penberthy, W. Davies.

Referee: David Rose (RFU) Assistants: Tom Foley & Roger Baileff

Nottingham determined to build on league success

Posted on Oct 26, 2012 in Nottingham

Alex Shaw says Nottingham are determined to pick up from where they left off in the league.

The Green and Whites return to full-strength for the trip to the Brickfields to face Plymouth and will be keen to bounce back to winning ways after successive losses in the British and Irish Cup.

Despite the losses, Shaw said Nottingham will be travelling full of confidence having climbed to third spot on the RFU Championship ladder with big home wins at Meadow Lane over Jersey and London Scottish before the two week cross-border competition hiatus.

Shaw said: “Losing two on the bounce is never a positive thing, but this week has been completely concentrated on Plymouth and our record in the league.

“We know we can bounce back with a good performance this week after a lot of different things were tried and a lot of changes were made in the Cup games.”

The shot of optimism comes in the form of the 11 changes to the starting XV.

Shaw moves back to No. 8 with Dan Montagu shuffling into the second row to re-join Nic Rouse.

Captain Brent Wilson and flanker Rupert Cooper team up with Shaw in the back row. Props Matt Parr and Michael Holford anchor the pack alongside Joe Duffey once again.

The first choice half back partnership of Sean Romans and James Arlidge is reunited, as Andrew Savage takes his place at full-back and the evergreen David Jackson gets the nod on the right wing.

Centre Joe Cobden’s strong performance against Llandovery on the opening day of the Cup sees him replace the injured Tim Streather.

Alex Lewington makes his first appearance for Nottingham this season, coming in for the injured Rhys Crane.

The inclusion of centre Jack Bradford on the bench is a clear indication that Nottingham head coach Martin Haag got a significant insight into the depth and breadth of talent at his disposal.

Shaw added: “A lot of positives came from those losses.

“There are a lot of players that didn’t play a lot of minutes before the Cup games, and now they have the benefit of seeing some very tough action and going through the patterns as well.”

Nottingham Rugby team to face Plymouth at the Brickfields on Saturday, October 27 (3pm kick-off): 15 Andrew Savage 14 David Jackson 13 Joe Cobden 12 Joe Munro 11 Alex Lewington 10 James Arlidge 9 Sean Romans 1 Matt Parr 2 Joe Duffey 3 Michael Holford 4 Dan Montagu 5 Nic Rouse 6 Rupert Cooper 7 Brent Wilson 8 Alex Shaw.

Replacements from: 16 Scott Wright 17 Jonny Harris 18 Joe Quinn 19 Tom Calladine 20 Finlay Barnham 21 Rory Lynn 22 Jack Bradford.

Knights aiming to extend Cup form

Posted on Oct 26, 2012 in Doncaster

Brett Davey has announced his squad to face Moseley for Friday’s crucial Championship encounter at Castle Park.

Following last week’s emphatic victory over Nottingham Davey has elected to go with an almost identical back division to the one that performed so well at Meadow Lane. The only difference is the selection of speedster Tyson Lewis replacing Dan Smith who is recovering from a knee injury.

The only other changes come in the front row, loose-head Tom Davies is back to full fitness and replaces impressive debutant Jack Bergmanas who takes his place on the bench. Another change upfront sees the inclusion of an exciting new signing, Leicester Tigers prop forward Keiran Brookes.

Brookes joins the Knights on a dual registration with the Premiership giants and with a wealth of experience. The 22-year-old accumulated over 40 appearances with Newcastle Falcons before joining the Tigers and has also represented England and Ireland Under 20s and the England Saxons.

After gaining their first win of the season against Nottingham last time out, confidence is high at Castle Park and Head Coach Glen Kenworthy believes the Knights have turned their fortunes around.

“The lads are in really good spirits and I’m positive we are a good enough team to beat Moseley at home.

“Last weekend so many players stood up and played exceptionally; if we do that again we can beat any opposition in this league.”

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IRB Confirms Pool Draw for Round 2 of HSBC Sevens World Series in Dubai

Posted on Oct 16, 2012 in Sevens

The IRB has confirmed the pool draw for round 2 of the HSBC Sevens World Series, the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens on 30 November-1 December 2012.

The draw was made live on television before the Cup final of the Gold Coast Sevens, the opening round of the 2012/13 season.

Having failed to reach the Cup quarter finals in Australia, defending Dubai champions England face a tough task with pool matches against South Africa and Samoa as well as Portugal.

Pools – Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens

Pool A

Fiji, Kenya, Spain, Scotland

Pool B

New Zealand, Argentina, Wales, Russia

Pool C

South Africa, Samoa, England, Portugal

Pool D

France, Australia, Canada, USA

Following their win on the Gold Coast, Fiji have an early lead in the HSBC Sevens World Series 2012/13. They currently lie on 22 points ahead of New Zealand (19), South Africa (17), Kenya (15) and Argentina (13).

Moseley team news vs Llanelli

Posted on Oct 12, 2012 in Moseley

Following last week’s heavy defeat against high-flying Newcastle Falcons in the League, Moseley turn to Cup business with the visit of Llanelli to Billesley Common. By coincidence the West-Walians were also losing to the leaders of their League last week, but have nevertheless enjoyed a fruitful start to the season with four wins. Fixtures between these two clubs were mouth-watering affairs in the 1970s and 80s, both sides being replete with international players of the highest class. There may well be some future internationals on view tomorrow as there is still a crucial feed from Llanelli to the regional side Llanelli Scarlets.

The Moseley side shows five changes from last week. Head Coach Kevin Maggs said “we have several enforced absences, but are also using the Cup matches to try out new combinations and give valuable game time to those in our squad who need it. I am confident in the team we have selected, and am looking forward to what should be a cracking cup-tie.”

British & Irish Cup: Moseley v Llanelli

Saturday 13th October, 3.00pm kick off at Billesley Common, Birmingham

Starting 15: 01.Steffan THORPE; 02. Sam WILKES; 03. Chaz MEDDICK; 04.Liam MATHER; 05.Buster LAWRENCE; 06. Nigel BURROWS; 07.Oliver ROBINSON; 08. Ben PIENAAR; 09. Sam BROWN; 10. Brad DAVIES; 11 Brad HUNT; 12. Anthony CARTER; 13. Greg KING; 14. Simon HUNT; 15.Billy ROBINSON

Replacements: 16. David HILTON;17. Adam CAVES; 18. Neil MASON; 19.Matt LOWCOCK; 20. Oliver THOMAS; 21.Ryan GLYNN; 22. Anders MOGENSON