Cornish Pirates

Birmingham & Solihull

BEES TRAVEL TO COVENTRY BUOYED BY OPENING ROUND WIN
Issued on behalf of Birmingham & Solihull

Birmingham & Solihull travel to Coventry this Saturday (27th March) for their second game in the all-important Championship Relegation Playoffs, buoyed by an impressive opening round win against Moseley.

The Bees beat their near neighbours in an enthralling 24-17 encounter at Sharmans Cross Road last weekend, providing the best possible start to their "Great Escape" campaign to avoid relegation from the RFU Championship.

Tries by wingers Anthony Elliott and Simon Hunt together with 14 points from the boot of Hunt earned the Bees their first victory in nearly a year and a vital 4 points in the Relegation Playoff Table.

"Saturday's win against Moseley was a massive tonic for everyone involved in the Club - both on and off the pitch"

said Bees Director of Rugby Russell Earnshaw, who himself made a welcome return to the starting XV following a shoulder injury.

"The spirit in the Club has never ebbed away but we played with an intensity and control that has previously been missing from our game."

The trip to the Butts Arena this Saturday (kick off 3pm) will be the second in a series six games for the Bees in the Playoff Pool. Coventry are currently bottom of the Playoff Pool having lost their opening weekend encounter up at Rotherham Titans and Earnshaw expects stiff opposition from their fellow Midland rivals.

"Coventry will be keen to put last week's disappointment behind them and put on a strong performance for their fans on their home turf. It will be another massive challenge for us to see if we can build on the momentum gained from last week's victory" said Earnshaw.

The Bees team to face Coventry on Saturday is:-
1 Matt Long, 2 Stuart Philpott (c), 3 Mauro Sperandio, 4 Alex Davidson, 5 Ross Noonan, 6 Rob Connolly, 7 Rob Bell, 8 Adam Clayton, 9 Sam Brown, 10 Ben Patston, 11 Anthony Elliott,12 Will Lawson,13 John Holtby, 14 Simon Hunt and 15 Tom Foden.

On the Bench are:- 16 Dave Orme, 17 Ben Phillips, 18 Ken Dowding, 19 Simon Pittfield, 20 Jack Preece, 21 Cameron Mitchell and 22 Jimmy Williams.

Supporters can follow the Bees' Championship Relegation Playoff Campaign at www.beesrugby.com/thegreatescape

The Bees' next home game is on Sunday 11th April (kickoff 3pm), when Rotherham Titans are the visitors at Sharmans Cross Road.

Bedford Blues

Excitement builds as Goldington Road welcomes Bristol
Issued on behalf of Bedford Blues

The Championship play-offs come to Goldington Road this Saturday with a huge match between the Bedford Blues and table-topping Bristol.

With both sides winning their opening Pool A games against Plymouth Albion and Cornish Pirates respectively the excitement is building and tickets are selling fast.

This weekend's result could have a huge impact on the play-off table with the victorious team gaining some clear ground on the trailing clubs.

Bedford have faced Bristol twice this season and both match-ups have been thrilling spectacles. Both sides fought tooth-and-nail to pick up the result but unfortunately for the Blues, it has been Bristol who have won both matches.

Back in September Bris visited Goldington Road and pipped Bedford to the points with a 6-5 victory in a superb match. The reverse fixture on a freezing cold December night at the Memorial Ground ended 37-16 but the Blues put in an immense effort and game was far closer than the score line suggests.

But previous results mean little in a play-off situation and the Blues know just how important home form will be.

Director of rugby Mike Rayer said:
"We got off to the best possible start last weekend and we need to carry that momentum into the game against Bristol.

"This is going to be a huge challenge for us but one we are all really looking forward to. With a big crowd expected to get behind the lads who knows what might happen. If nothing else we certainly shouldn't be lacking in passion and motivation."

Following Saturday's game the Blues are next in action at home against Cornish Pirates on April 10 before rounding off the play-offs with the visit of Plymouth Albion on May 1 with both games kicking off at 3pm.

Nottingham

Parr ready for physical challenge
Issued on behalf of Nottingham Rugby

Nottingham travel to Castle Park in their second play-off match and front row man Matt Parr knows he will have a hard job to do against a physical Doncaster side.

The Green & Whites got their play-off campaign off to a flying start with a 20-9 victory over Exeter Chiefs and will be hoping to carry that momentum into Saturday's match.

Parr said:
"There's no point in beating the big teams if you can't beat everyone else. It is going to be a big and physical challenge for us up front again.

"I will need to do a job again on Saturday. They are a very tough side and will try to beat us up but we need to concentrate on taking our game to them rather than letting them play theirs.

"In the play-offs every single game counts and there's no room to slip up. We have five crucial matches coming up and we need to be on top form.

"Doncaster are a hard side to beat, especially at home, and they have got nothing to lose on Saturday.

"We caused an upset against Exeter last weekend so there will be a level of expectation among people now.

"We need to go out and play like we did against Exeter and give it our all."

So far this season the Green & Whites have come out on top in both encounters between the two sides, winning the Castle Park leg 23-7.

But Parr knows previous form will count for nothing in the promotion play-offs, saying:
"I think we proved that it doesn't matter how you did earlier in the season when we beat Exeter.

"No-one would have been expecting that after our heavy losses to them both at Welford Road and down at their place.

"We have beaten Doncaster twice this season but last week we all started from zero again - those games are irrelevant now.

"There is no doubt this will be a tough game for us and we will need the support of our fantastic fans to pull off another result and put us as high as we can be to qualify for the semi-finals."

The Green Army coach for this match is full but for those planning to make the short trip themselves for directions see here: