Round 4 Fixtures, Predictions & News

HT Pirates 15 Richmond 0

islander wrote: HT at the Stade, Reds lead 21-7 - was 21-zip until a 39th min YC to Sean O'Connor for something illegal in a ruck and ET worked an attacking LO & mauled try to claw back some pts. They'd started strongly but couldn't score, then Reds in ascendance from 15-min mark.

Was it not for the deliberate k/o Islander? Or was it a seperate offense?

Fair play to Bedford. That is 8 out of 8 home wins for them in all competitions this season. The only dropped point was at home to Coventry in the cup.

KnightsBoy wrote: Just inquiring into how reliant Bedford are on the Saints boys,  I seem to remember a year or so ago they had about 10 dr/loans announced

Hi KB, well our style of play has not been affected, to the appreciation (and insistence) of the Blues fans.  There are regular changes to the line up and as a long time supporter, I find it difficult to name the player on sight at times.  There is a large main core of Blues players, in fact the starting 15 at Caldy were all Blues.  Last night V Scottish there were Saints players e.g. the Grayson brothers, Tom Litchfield, Joel Matavesi.  However that is rare to see as many.  As with our link up with Saracens years ago, a player can get pulled out at short notice which is a bit of a pain.  Some great tries last night and despite it being a dying rubber the atmosphere was electric.

islander wrote: HT scores: Nott 10 Hart 7; Blues v Scots 12-all

Jersey Reds v Ealing Trailfinders (adobe.com)

Cherub wrote: "Predictions become pot luck as no one knows which sides will take these games more seriously than a preseason warm up with coaches experimenting with players" This is what I said before making my predictions for this week's cup games. Looking at both the Ampthill and Caldy websites, I see both sides are making ELEVEN changes from last week's sides. I know many of you disagree with my view of this cup competition, but I personally think it sucks and merely serves as a fixture filler because there are too few teams in this league.

I don’t disagree with your sentiment Cherub, but think that it is more about risk/reward.
All teams will take the games seriously as the players have too much pride not to.
However, squads will be rotated for a number of reasons, but on the whole, if you go out of the cup, then there is always next season. If you are relegated because of a string of injuries caused by over playing or directly from said cup games, well that is a very bitter pill to swallow.
Some teams want to win this competition and I include my side in this as well as our opponents tomorrow. I am in no position to speak for the other clubs.
I still think that there will be some serious entertainment out there this week, regardless of who makes the starting XV’s

Ealing Trailfinders team to face Jersey Reds:

Quite a strong side here, with Tizanno, De Wee (carded) and Holmes being the only nailed on starters sitting this one out. I like seeing JCR back in the squad, and Alun Walker returns from a short term loan with Newcastle to pack down at Hooker.  I honestly thought that Ealing might be best served by tanking the cup and getting healthy - last week they had to bring a Hooker who was injured back onto the field after the replacement was even more badly injured, and we have three fly halves in the squad due to lack of centres.

15. Max Bodilly

14. Nathan Earle

13. Reuben Bird-Tulloch

12. Peter Robb

11. James Cordy-Redden

10. Craig Willis

9. Craig Hampson

1. James Gibbons

2. Alun Walker

3. George Davis

4. Will Montgomery

5. Simon Linsell

6. Rob Farrar (C)

7. Simon Uzokwe

8. David Douglas Bridge

Replacements:

16. Kevin O’Byrne

17. Will Davis

18. Ross Kane

19. Ollie Newman

20. Jack Digby

21. Jordan Burns

22. Dan Lancaster

23. Steven Shingler

Jersey taking this one seriously, as you’d expect. Apart from the Ealing rivalry, they know that defeat would mean that any chance of making it to the semi final stage would be in the hands of others.
Could be a stormer this.

Nottingham 5 - 2 Hartpury