Bedford Blues v Bristol

The match of the weekend is arguably at Goldington Road where 1 st placed BedfordBlues take on 2 nd placed Bristol.

Both sides go in to the match unbeaten but for Bristol it signals a tough three weeks with matches against Exeter Chiefs and the Cornish Pirates to follow.

The Blues have yet to concede a try in three matches and director of rugby Mike Rayer has paid tribute to the input his squad has received from England defence coach Mike Ford.

He told Rugby Times, “Mike Ford came up a couple of weeks ago and did a defensive session on technique as a result of a sponsorship deal connected with the club.”

“There’s been a few line breaks against us but there has been a willingness to recover from that. Most sides are pretty organised from first phase plays but it is obviously beyond that that counts, and we’ve been quite strong in that area.”

Bristol coach Paul Hull has spoken that his side intends to ruin Bedford’s defensive record. He told the Evening News, " We're hopefully going to put them under a little bit more pressure than they've been under so far – that's certainly our aim.”

"They've played some good attacking rugby, they haven't conceded any tries and all the stats mount up to a very good start to the season for Bedford – they deserve their position at the top of the league."

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

Exeter Chiefs v Plymouth Albion

Exeterchief executive Tony Rowe has told the Express & Echo of his concern regarding ticket sales for tomorrow`s match at Sandy Park against Plymouth Albion.

The Chiefs announced that they had removed the all-ticket status on the fixture earlier in the week to avoid confusion amongst supporters, and has now revealed that only 4,000 tickets have been sold on the eve of the match. Last season this fixture attracted a crowd of 6,658.

Rowe said, “The ticket sales are not as strong as we would like them to be, but whether that's a result of the Championship or recession I don't know. It's early in the season, we don't normally play Plymouth until later in the season. I doubt it has got anything to do with the price rises because our membership and season ticket sales are up.”

"People like to support a winning side and we've had a fairly good start to the season. As long as that continues we would hope that our attendances would remain high."

Full story.. www.thisisexeter.co.uk

Meanwhile Chiefs Coach Rob Baxter has made 12 changes to his starting line-up following the ten he made last week against Coventry.

French wing Nic Sestaret is recalled to face his former club after spending nine months out with a knee injury.

Other changes see Danny Gray come in at fly-half for Gareth Steenson, Emyr Lewis restored to full-back, and Paul McKenzie switch from wing to centre. Number 8 Tom Hayes will lead the side.

Full story and team.. www.exeterchiefs.co.uk

Plymouth Albion will be without prop Martin Rice who injured a shoulder against Bedford Blues last weekend. Danny Porte will line up against his former club.

Another player missing for Albion will be fly-half Alex Davies who is suffering from an ankle strain.

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

Albion chairman of rugby Graham Dawe has told his troops that tommorow`s clash is all about self-belief.

The Brickfields club have not beaten their rivals since a 7-0 victory at the County Ground in 2005. He told The Herald, "But this world is not about going back into your rabbit hole – it is all about getting up and trying again.”

"As a team, if you are determined and dogged enough, then it is possible you can make it happen. You have got to believe in your own abilities and that is what we need to do tomorrow."

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

Moseley v Doncaster Knights

Two teams without a Championship win to date go head-to-head at Billesley Common tommorow as the pressure to perform mounts in both camps .

Moseley have been slow to start in each match to date and have also struggled with physical opposing packs. Doncaster have looked disjointed, unfit and poor on decision making.

Moseley coach Ian Smith, having learned that he will have to do without back rower Andy Hall for the match, told the Birmingham Post that there were green shoots of recovery evident last week against Nottingham.

He said, "The set-piece was a vast improvement. And the way we carried the ball definitely showed we are getting back to where we were last year. And our kicking game is a little bit better than it has been over the last couple of years. We won a few of the ping-pong duels with Nottingham which is encouraging.”

“I am not saying that is the way forward but it is something you have to have in your armoury.”

Full story.. www.birminghampost.net

Moseley
Forwards
Nathan Williams/Adam Caves/Terry Sigley/Ally Muldowney/Richard Stott/Neil Mason/Harry Rowland/Dan Williams
Backs
Andy Williams/Tristan Roberts/Justin Mensah-Coker/Andy Reay/Jonny May/Nathan Bressington/Rob Thirlby

Replacements
Dan Oselton/Richard Protherough/Dave Lyons/Chevvy Pennycook/Gareth Taylor/Bryn Keys/Mike Gillick

Doncaster Knights Head Coach Lyn Howells has rung the changes as he bids to inject fresh life into his struggling charges.

Injured skipper Glen Kenworthy and prop Tom Davies are both out with Bryn Griffiths and giant Tongan Ngalu Tau taking their places. Stuart Laurie gets a debut at hooker with Toma Toke also preferred in the front row to Stuart Corsar.

There are also four changes in the backs with full-back Roger Davies dropped and Steve McColl taking his place.

Full story and team news.. www.thestar.co.uk

Preview from Knights website and team.. www.drfc.co.uk

Rotherham Titans v London Welsh

Rotherham boss Craig West is hoping for a big crowd at Clifton Lane tomorrow as they look to return to winning ways against London Welsh.

Both sides have lost two of their opening three games and the Titans will want to give former favourite Errie Claasens an uncomfortable return to his old stomping ground

Last weekend saw the Welsh ease past Birmingham & Solihull whilst the Titans were embarrassed at Bristol. Utility back Brad Hunt told Rugby Times, “The target within the squad is to make sure we win as many home games as we can. We have got to make sure Clifton Lane is an intimidating place again.”

More details..www.thestar.co.uk/rugbyunion

Titans team.. www.rotherhamrugby.co.uk

The Exiles will be skippered by flanker Jonathan Mills with former Cornish Pirates player Simon Whatling starting at inside centre.

Team.. www.london-welsh.co.uk/

Cornish Pirates v Coventry

The match preview for this site can be found here..

Coventry boss Phil Maynard has told his team to target the breakdown and retain possession in a bid to frustrate the Pirates.

He told The Coventry Evening Telegraph, “It is a difficult place to go and play and they are on a high but, like any team in this league, if you give them time and space they will flourish.”

"The challenge will be to contest the areas we know we can, the tackle area and defence. We know they like to get the ball wide, so the best way to prevent that is to keep the ball.”

Full story and team.. www.coventrytelegraph.net

The Midlanders will also have to wait a bit longer to employ the services of 28 year-old Kiwi back row John Cocker.

After a two month wait for his arrival at the Butts Park Arena a further immigration delay means he is unlikely to feature for his new club until at least the end of October.

Full story.. www.coventrytelegraph.net

Nottingham v Birmingham & Solihull

As the Bees again attempt to fend off the advances of the Inland Revenue off the field, Nottingham director of rugby Glen Delaney has told his men not to underestimate the challenge they pose on it.

After their opening day defeat to the Pirates, Nottingham have beaten London Welsh and Moseley. Delaney told the Evening Post, “The Bees are a good broken field side with a very limited amount of structure and if you give them space you could be in trouble.”

He continued, “These are the kind of teams that if you give them that time and space they will score – that's rugby."

Full story.. www.thisisnottingham.co.uk

Squads for Sunday.. /www.nottinghamrugby.co.uk/Teams

Bees coach Russell Earnshaw is meanwhile looking from a big response from his side to last Saturday’s capitulation at Old Deer Park.

He told the Birmingham Post, “We are going to have to be a bit smarter with our kicking game. It is something we have talked about in the last few weeks but not something we have really put into action.”

“We have also got to do well at the breakdown. There is no way we can play back foot rugby when they are throwing people in to the rucks.”

Full story.. www.birminghampost.net

The on-going financial plight at Sharmans Cross Road is covered by two paragraphs in todays Daily Telegraph which read,

“The RFU's £2.3 million investment in the Championship, the new 12-club second tier of the domestic game, may not be enough to save Birmingham/Solihull, however. The club's board members met last night to discuss a rescue package after they were issued with a winding-up petition yesterday by the Inland Revenue.”

“The club have received £60,000 in gifts and loans from their members but are understood still to owe the Revenue £100,000.”