Cornish Pirates

Cornish Pirates v London Welsh

Having already qualified for the play-offs both teams will look on this fixture as a chance to make some final adjustments before the next stage of the Championship begins.

Last weekend the Cornish Pirates qualified for the semi-finals of the British & Irish Cup and a win here at the Mennaye Field against the Exiles could see them climb above their opponents to finish third in the regular season.

Match preview www.cornish-pirates.com/match_previews

London Welsh team news www.london-welsh.co.uk

Bedford Blues v Rotherham Titans

Rotherham travel to Goldington Road knowing that nothing other than victory is required if they are to stand any chance of escaping from the relegation play-off zone.

The Titans will also have to rely on Moseley and Plymouth Albion losing and skipper Mike Whitehead was realistic in his assessment of the task ahead of his side.

He told Rugby Times, “It’s not easy down there. Not many teams go down there and win, but I’ve won there a couple of times in the past. I like Bedford, they play really good rugby and it’s always a good game against them.”

The Blues have lost four times at home this season and director of rugby Mike Rayer does not want another reverse as he prepares his team for the play-offs.

He told Bedford Today, “They've got everything to play for so we've got to be mentally and physically prepared otherwise we'll get burnt. We want to go into the promotion play-offs in good spirits and with a winning performance. It's a big game for us."

He continued, “They're desperate for the points and they'll throw the kitchen sink at us. It's not in our nature to go into a game and not go for the win. I'll put out a strong line-up and the boys will be up for it.

"The last thing we want is a setback going into the last part of the season. We've won our last three matches and we want to keep that momentum going."

Bedford have reported no fresh injury worries going into tomorrow’s game.

Doncaster Knights v Plymouth Albion

All eyes will be on Castle Park tomorrow afternoon where Lynn Howells` men will attempt to derail Plymouth Albion’s bid to break free of the drop zone with an eleventh win of the season.

The battle-weary Yorkshire side have just completed nine matches in twenty-eight days losing only once (at Bristol) whilst notching five bonus points and 248 points scored on the field.

Speaking ahead of the game Howells told the Doncaster Free Press, “It's a fantastic run we've gone on and I just think it shows the character of this team. From where we've come from - getting off to such a slow start and suffering injury after injury - it's been all about getting in the play-offs

"Hopefully we've done that - and when you get there it becomes a case of playing eight cup ties. But at the moment it's still mathematically possible that we could end up in the bottom four.

"We need to go out there against Plymouth and put in a performance and get the right result."

The Knights know that only a heavy defeat by the Devon side coupled with a shock win for Moseley against Bristol could jeopardise all their hard work and thrust them back into the bottom four.

Howells continued, “It's a home game and it's important we keep on winning and keep the run going. It breeds confidence and momentum

"Plymouth will pose a different type of problem to our last couple of games and they have two Tongans in midfield who will run at us and take some big hits. But our boys will be up for the challenge."

Plymouth Albion have made eleven changes to the team which faced Exeter in the cup last weekend but only two in terms of their last Championship start against the Bees.

Ryan Hopkins comes in at prop in place of George Porter with Rory Watts-Jones returning from injury and taking the place of Wayne Sprangle at flanker.

Albion team www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/albion

Graham Dawe told The Herald, “We can't influence other results. We are going into the final game in the top eight and we have to try and remain there. And the only we can guarantee that is by getting a win. The ultimate prize is to be in that top eight come 4.45pm tomorrow.”

"It is not often a league game is vitally important in the middle of March. That is normally reserved for April or the beginning of May, but this is the way the format has panned out this year.

"The Championship has been an exciting campaign and it is going to be right down to the last game."

Story www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/albion

Exeter Chiefs v Birmingham & Solihull

Exeter Chiefs will use this final home fixture before the play-offs to fine tune some last details before their major assault on promotion to the Premiership begins.

Bottom of the table Birmingham & Solihull have yet to win this season and have already been docked a further two league points by the RFU ahead of the play-offs for fielding an ineligible player, so victory for the Chiefs would seem a formality.

The Western Morning News reports, “Bryan Rennie is rested for the weekend after he took a heavy blow against Plymouth Albion in the British & Irish Cup last weekend, Matt Cornwell has been drafted in at inside centre to partner Nic Sestaret. Phil Dollman will move from centre to full-back.”

“In the back-row, Andy Miller and James Scaysbrook will both line up alongside Richie Baxter to afford Chad Slade a slight rest. Danny Gray has also been given a break for this weekend.”

Head coach Rob Baxter told the same newspaper, "I'm telling the squad that there are players who probably feel they are outside our starting line-up at the minute, who are closer than they think, and a lot of them will probably play a big part in how successful we are in the play-offs."

Story and Chiefs team www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk

The Bees are currently considering whether or not to appeal their two point deduction by the RFU.

Birmingham Post opinion www.birminghampost.net

Moseley v Bristol

Moseley will bid to avoid becoming the third Midlands side in the relegation play-offs by pulling off a massive surprise and beating table-topping Bristol at Billesley Common tomorrow.

Skipper Neil Mason told the Birmingham Post, “It’s a massive game for the club. The boys are all geared up for that game, everyone is. We know what we have got to do, it’s obvious to everyone.”

Mason takes inspiration from what his team did to Exeter Chiefs and Leeds at the back end of last season adding, “The good thing about our position is that have played games against supposedly big opposition in our league and we have come out on top, therefore we know we can do it.”

“Against Exeter we knew what their game plan was, they were straight down the middle and we knew what they were going to do. We stopped them at source and that made them do something else. It knocked them back, I don’t think they expected it.

The same we Leeds, we took the game to them and hopefully that is what we are going to do against Bristol.”

Story www.birminghampost.net

Moseley will select Gloucester dual-regger Johnny May on the wing with Tristan Roberts returning at fly-half after injury www.birminghammail.net

Bristol will travel up the M5 without prop Mako Vunipola who has been selected for the England Under-20 squad who are travelling to play Scotland.

Club captain Roy Winters will also miss the game through injury as will centre Sam Giddens (hamstring). New signing Alex Crockett will play after a try scoring debut last weekend at Nottingham. The former Bath centre played just under an hour before being withdrawn with a tight hamstring.

Head coach Paul Hull told the Evening Post that he is yet to decide what his strongest starting XV is.

He said, “I wouldn't be able to name the whole starting XV at the moment. There are probably a couple of positions that I could say 'They would start', but at the moment, the beauty of this is that I can't name the whole starting XV.

"We've been pretty true to the fact that we'll pick on form – and what would have been the starting XV three months ago might not be the best starting XV now. We want to make sure everyone is playing well, gelling well, playing to the game plan and doing the right things off the pitch. Everything comes into the equation."

Story and Bristol squad www.thisisbristol.co.uk

Nottingham v Coventry

The Green and Whites are expected to field most of their big guns at Meadow Lane tomorrow as they look to register a comprehensive and morale-boosting win over relegation candidates Coventry ahead of the play-offs.

Nottingham will open up at home against Exeter Chiefs on March 21^st and skipper Craig Hammond knows that his team will have to be ready to come out of their corner fighting from the off against the Chiefs.

He told the Evening Post, "It might not appear a big game (Coventry) but, for us, it is huge. We need to build into the top eight. We will probably have the best starting 15 we can play tomorrow and we need to build into the Exeter game the following weekend.”

"If we don't, we will be going into the Exeter game with doubts in our minds. If we play with the same intensity as we did against Coventry a couple of weeks ago, we know we can carry it over to Exeter.

"It's a very big game for us because we are building hard towards those play-offs and we need to be in good form going into those games."

Looking ahead to the play-offs he added, “It's a great opportunity. In the past you got to this time of the year and you were not going to get relegated or promoted. You were just playing games for the sake of it, whereas now, we've got a great chance to get a bit of a run going and maybe a place in the Premiership.”

"We have six games, three at home and three away, and a huge chance to make the semi-finals. But we've got to get our act together for tomorrow against Coventry. Then anything is possible."

Story www.thisisnottingham.co.uk

Coventry boss Phil Maynard has given a first start at full-back to triple Oxford blue Chris Mahoney for the match.

The 28 year-old who has also represented New Zealand Universities and played for Auckland made a try-scoring debut last weekend at Neath in the cup, and a rib injury suffered by Fangatapu Apikotoa in the same match means that Ben Russell will deputise at fly-half.

Maynard told the Coventry Telegraph, “Chris was very bright for 60 minutes at Neath. He looks like he can play anywhere because he is a very powerful runner.For the first time this season, Tapu has picked up an injury and sometimes these things open a door for someone else.”

“I am sure Tapu will have a big role in the play-offs but for now I’d like to see what Chris can do. He’s been very positive around the squad, he has been a real breath of fresh air with his winning mentality. But like everyone else here he struggles to understand why we are in the mix at the bottom because we are much better than that.”

Story www.coventrytelegraph.net

Coventry team www.coventryrugby.co.uk