Bedford Blues v Moseley

Bedford Blues attempt to end a run of three consecutive defeats when they meet Moseley at Goldington Road tonight.

The Cornish Pirates, Exeter Chiefs and Nottingham have all put a sizeable dent in their early season form and scrum-half Nick Walshe told the club website this week,

"It is really frustrating because we are doing enough to win games, we aren't being outplayed and we are the ones playing the most rugby in these games but for some reason we are making errors that are costing us dearly. If we reduced these mistakes by 25 per cent then we would be winning games.

"But it is a loss (losing at the Pirates). We can't get away from it and we have to keep being positive. As coaches we believe that we are going in the right direction.”

"The players are doing 80 per cent of what we want them to do really well, but the other 20 per cent is being done very badly instead of not so well and I think that is what is killing us at the moment. Their attitude is great and we aren't getting thumped or outplayed by any team, but we need to learn lessons from these results.”

Moseley back row Chevvy Pennycook has told the Birmingham Post that the reason he joined the Billesley Common side from Newbury in the summer was down to their impressive pack.

He said,

“I played against them twice and it was quite a big reason why I joined. They are really good at the breakdown. I thought they were quite a hard team to play against and found it pretty hard trying to keep hold of the ball. I wanted to be part of that back row.”

Full story.. www.birminghampost.net

Birmingham & Solihull v Coventry

Bottom of the table Bees entertain local rivals Coventry in Saturday`s early kick off with both coaches ensuring their share of newspaper headlines in the build-up to the match.

At the Bees Russell Earnshaw launched a scathing attack on match Referee Tim Wigglesworth after the official awarded two penalty tries against his team at Doncaster a week ago. This comes hot on the heels of some apparently forthright remarks made about Rob Debney after the home defeat to Rotherham Titans.

Tomorrow's match official is Luke Pearce who recently infuriated Phil maynard and seemingly the whole of Coventry as he awarded three penalty tries in the derby against Moseley.

Full story..www.birminghampost.net

Coventry, who sit just three places above the Bees in the Championship table, travel to Sharman`s Cross Road having lost their last two matches.

Defeat to London Welsh a week ago resulted in director of rugby Phil Maynard demanding to know if his squad were truly committed to playing for the club in a withering blast at his players after the game.

Maynard demanded that each player inform him personally of their commitment to the club and was heartened to hear that Arthur Brenton wants the captaincy back, once he has earned his place in the side again.

Maynard told the Coventry Telegraph, “London Welsh was easily our poorest performance of the season. The players and coaches have taken a long hard look at each other this week and there have been some pretty robust exchanges of views.

“That kind of performance on Friday night, in front of our own fans, was just not acceptable. We have to front up wherever we go but especially at home.”

He added, “I am quietly confident we wills see a response on Saturday. The boys we have got are all good players but they have got to be a bit more ruthless when they take to the pitch.”

Full story.. www.coventrytelegraph.net

Exeter Chiefs v Cornish Pirates

Match preview on this website can be found here..

Western Morning News preview and Exeter Chiefs team.. www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk

Gavin Cattle looks ahead to tomorrow`s match..www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk

London Welsh v Plymouth Albion

Graham Dawe`s Plymouth Albion side face a tough trip to Old Deer Park but can take heart from the fact that the Welsh lost at home last time out to Doncaster Knights.

Albion followed an impressive win against Nottingham at Brickfields with a hefty 33-8 loss to Bristol. When asked by The Herald if his team were showing signs of improvement this season Dawe replied, “That is something you can't call in the middle of the season – words are cheap."

Of the trip to face the Welsh he was equally blunt. He said, “We have got to go there sometime this season.

"I don't know how good they are because I haven't seen them this season. It doesn't matter where they are (in the league table) at this stage of the season."

Full story.. www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/albion

Albion have recalled former Exeter Chiefs lock Tom Skelding for the trip to the capital with Tyler Hotson away on international duty for Canada.

Hooker James owen has passed a fitnes test and will play but Albion will not gamble on centre Matt Hopper who instead will play for Devonport Warriors tomorrow.

Albion team.. hwww.thisisplymouth.co.uk

London Welsh are yet to announce their team but a growing injury list means that fly-half Gordon Ross, wing Errie Claasens, and Number 8 Tom Brown could all be sidelined.

Rotherham Titans v Doncaster Knights

The South Yorkshire derby is expected to bring another large crowd to Clifton Lane with the visitors looking to build on their run of four straight victories, and the Titans desperate to escape from the bottom four.

The Titans failed to build on their win against the Cornish Pirates as they let a 20-6 lead slip at Moseley last weekend eventually going down 31-27.

The Knights ground out a 36-7 win over the Bees which included two penalty tries much to the fury of the visitors.

The home side haven`t beaten Doncaster in their last seven attempts and head coach Craig West told the Yorkshire Post,

"I anticipate it will be another tight game between the two of us. There'll be a lot of passion and commitment from everyone involved.

"As always it will be a big game. It means a lot to the people who have been involved with the club for a long time. But once you're on the pitch you have to put that to one side and the players have to concentrate on their own jobs."

Knights boss Lynn Howells added,

"It's always been a difficult place to go to, certainly in my two years at Doncaster," said Knights director or rugby Howells.

"Rotherham are a team that if everyone is playing well they become very difficult to beat. Defensively and in the set-piece they are very strong. They have scored a couple of penalty tries which just shows the strength of their scrum

"Derbies are completely different to any other games. It's the side that commits the least amount of errors that prevails."

Full story.. www.yorkshirepost.co.uk

Rotherham Titans team.. www.rotherhamrugby.co.uk

Sheffield Star preview.. www.thestar.co.uk

Bristol v Nottingham

Bristol centre Jack Adams has told the Evening Post that his team are unconcerned by Exeter Chiefs` flying start made to the season.

Bristol face injury-ravaged Nottingham at the Memorial Stadium on Sunday and Adams said,

“ We've played against Exeter and we've seen them play against other teams. We know what we did wrong and we know where we can expose them for the next game, so their start is not a huge worry.

"Exeter will be looking below them at the teams who are winning, so it doesn't concern us.”

"They could win every game of the season and then lose in the semi-finals to the team that finished fifth. It's a strange league to go into, but it's not worrying us that Exeter keep winning."

He continued,

“We're still looking to win every game, but technically you could finish eighth and get promoted or finish ninth and get relegated. Everyone is still getting used to the concept and it's going to be interesting towards the end of the season."

Full story and Bristol squad.. www.thisisbristol.co.uk

Nottingham travel to the Memorial Stadium still minus several key players due to injury and dual-registration recalls from the Leicester Tigers.

Last Saturday`s 42-11 thumping by Exeter Chiefs was their second reverse in three outings but they will hold on to third spot in the table even if they do go down again at Bristol.

Former Cornish Pirates lock Sam Raven will be out of action for around six weeks after sustaining an ankle injury against the Chiefs, as will Nic Rouse who suffered the same problem. Raven will undergo surgery this week.

Sam McDonald is a doubt with a rib injury whilst Ian Nimmo (broken leg), David Jackson (broken foot), Matt Parr (broken arm), and Ben Johnston (knee ligaments) make up the worst of the long-term absentees at Meadow Lane.