2020-21 Championship - Round 10

Saturday 22nd May:

Edited by Donnyknightfan - 18 May 2021 at 17:03

A far more difficult set of fixtures to predict than last week when only Coventry surprised everyone, but here goes.

Hartpury 1-5 Jersey. Jersey will be on a mission following last week's reversal, but Hartpury can also score tries. I expect Jersey to win, but I can see the home side scoring 4 tries.
Ealing 5-0 Doncaster. I cannot share Donnyknightfan's optimism here and I expect Ealing to romp this one, but like last week, not by 50 points.
Coventry 0-5 Saracens. Saracens have one goal in mind, and that is to win every single remaining game by as many points as they can. They are ruthless. I cannot see Coventry stopping them, even if they themselves are on a role.
Ampthill 5-0 Richmond. Despite last Monday's heavy defeat, Ampthill played far better than the scoreline suggested. They will be playing with confidence, hopefully in front of a crowd, and will want to be winning the last two games of the season so they can cement a 6th spot.
Nottingham 5-2 Bedford. This one is hard to call. Nottingham are improving with every game, but Bedford play fast attractive rugby but keep slipping up. Could go either way.

Hartpury 1-5 Jersey - Jersey will avenge last week's loss.
Ealing 5-0 Doncaster - Last week Ealing rotated quite a number of players, but they know that this match is almost a must win for the playoffs, so I think that they come out full strength. Donny also know that they need to win this one and blank Ealing, but I think Ealing will pull this one off, and go over 50 on the fast track at home. AND I'LL BE THERE TO WATCH!!!!
Coventry 2-5 Saracens - Saracens to be a bit beaten up, and Cov to come out flying with supporters, but fall just short.
Ampthill 5-0 Richmond - A's much better than the score against Sarries suggest.
Nottingham 0-5 Bedford - Nottingham may have beat Richmond, but they are really not good. Bedford is better than their record, and can always be counted on for the try of the week.

Edited by gerg_861 - 19 May 2021 at 16:42

Turns out Ampthill won a pre-battle of Bedfordshire with try of the week! I thought it was probably 4th best.

Scrumtime wrote: Hartpury v Jersey -1-5 Hartpury flattered to deceive, after a great first game never hit the mark since, Jersey smarting from last week Ealing v Doncaster - 5-2 A lot closer than some think but money talks  Coventry v Saracens - 0-5 One way traffic 5 day turn around or not! Ampthill v Richmond -5-0 Ampthill by far the better of the last two promoted sides. Richmond look a band of journeyman from National 1 clubs thrown together with no quality in the side, they have been very disappointing and very poor in the last two games v Bedford and Nottingham Nottingham v Bedford 2-5 Saints 2s to pull through, but Nottingham have made a decent fist of it as last week showed, well done them!

Richmond looked like they have struggled last couple of matches but did well earlier v Saracens and also beating full time Jersey. I understand there have been some key players missing and instead of raiding Prem academies have given their other squad members the opportunity to play Championship rugby. Ampthill very good in matches when they have their full list of dual reg players available from Saracens and Wasps. I understand the regulations are there to be used but something sad really when historic clubs like Bedford and Coventry plus the likes of Hartpury and Ampthill have at times more than half of their teams coming from clubs other than themselves.

Kimbo wrote: marigold wrote: Richmond looked like they have struggled last couple of matches but did well earlier v Saracens and also beating full time Jersey. I understand there have been some key players missing and instead of raiding Prem academies have given their other squad members the opportunity to play Championship rugby. Ampthill very good in matches when they have their full list of dual reg players available from Saracens and Wasps. I understand the regulations are there to be used but something sad really when historic clubs like Bedford and Coventry plus the likes of Hartpury and Ampthill have at times more than half of their teams coming from clubs other than themselves. Somewhat of an exaggeration there. While I absolutely agree that clubs should use their own assets where possible, when you lose more than half your squad during the lockdown, plus a couple of million quid minimum in income, you do what you can when the devil pishes on your cornflakes. Just checking the last three games (and I can't see any of the earlier ones being any different given how many are actually registered), Cov have started five loaners each time, with one on the bench (while also making space for young Academy players. More than half?

Excellent summary of both sides of the argument in these posts. Given the nature of this truncated season I'm happy with whatever clubs are doing to beg, borrow or scrape together the best playing resource they can to field a team each week. The performances of many clubs are bound to be inconsistent given the difficulties clubs have faced but its surely a great effort to come through all this and be playing in front of supporters again.

In my dreams the Ealing vs Donny game is very tight coming into the 80th minute Donny lead 21 to 20 (three tries a piece) Ealing are attacking our line when Kyle Evans intercepts a pass out wide, which if made would have sealed the win for Ealing, but Kyle sprints the length of the pitch touches down under the posts for an emphatic win, Olver converts,  Ealing 20 - Donny 28 (0 - 5) and Ealing are now dependent on Donny to lose against Nottingham the following week. To make the play offs

Ealing Trailfinders team to play Doncaster - Interesting selections for this week, a little bit concerned about lack of continuity with 5 changes, however the changes mostly come from folks who didn't have their best game last week (with the exception of Rayn). Excited to see Burns get a start, great to see Dean Hammond recovered from that horror concussion against Jersey. Slightly surprised to see Uzokwe not on the bench at all. This seems like a slightly speedier side than the one that has ran out lately. Yeeealing!

15. David Johnston

14. Angus Kernohan

13. Max Bodilly

12. Pat Howard

11. Dean Hammond

10. Craig Willis

9. Jordan Burns

1. James Gibbons

2. Shaun Malton

3. Lewis Thiede

4. Bobby De Wee

5. James Cannon

6. Max Northcote-Green

7. Guy Thompson

8. Kieran Murphy

Replacements -

16. Michael Van Vuuren

17. Will Davis

18. Kyle Whyte

19. Simon Linsell

20. Shane Buckley

21. Craig Hampson

22. Luke Daniels

23. Malon Al-Jiboori

corporalcarrot wrote: Kimbo wrote: marigold wrote: Richmond looked like they have struggled last couple of matches but did well earlier v Saracens and also beating full time Jersey. I understand there have been some key players missing and instead of raiding Prem academies have given their other squad members the opportunity to play Championship rugby. Ampthill very good in matches when they have their full list of dual reg players available from Saracens and Wasps. I understand the regulations are there to be used but something sad really when historic clubs like Bedford and Coventry plus the likes of Hartpury and Ampthill have at times more than half of their teams coming from clubs other than themselves. Somewhat of an exaggeration there. While I absolutely agree that clubs should use their own assets where possible, when you lose more than half your squad during the lockdown, plus a couple of million quid minimum in income, you do what you can when the devil pishes on your cornflakes. Just checking the last three games (and I can't see any of the earlier ones being any different given how many are actually registered), Cov have started five loaners each time, with one on the bench (while also making space for young Academy players. More than half? Excellent summary of both sides of the argument in these posts. Given the nature of this truncated season I'm happy with whatever clubs are doing to beg, borrow or scrape together the best playing resource they can to field a team each week. The performances of many clubs are bound to be inconsistent given the difficulties clubs have faced but its surely a great effort to come through all this and be playing in front of supporters again.