Rugby / Statbunker News

Bedford Blues v Plymouth Albion 

 

Fifth placed Bedford Blues are at home to seventh placed Plymouth Albion looking to get their season back on track after three straight defeats.

 

The Blues will be looking to get back to winning ways and especially at home where they were beaten 26-6 last time out by Cornish Pirates. \in three of their 11 matches this season they have stopped the opposition crossing their try line. Attacking wise they have picked up five try bonus points and outscoring the visitors 43 tries to 27.

 

Albion go into the match is some good form with a four match unbeaten run including three wins and a draw since they lost 41-14 at home to Exeter Chiefs and drew their last away match 10 all at Rotherham.  

Despite scoring 16 tries fewer they have outscored the Blues nine tries to five in the last 10 minutes of matches.

 

Last season Bedford Blues did the double over Plymouth Albion in two close matches, at Goldington Road they were 13-10 winners and later in the season were 13-6 winners at Brickfields. 

 

Match verdict: Blues to win by nine points at home to Plymouth

 

Coventry v Otley

 

10^th placed Coventry entertain second bottom Otley looking to return to winning ways.

 

Coventry after back to back wins slipped to a narrow away defeat at Rotherham 28-27.   

Centre Donovan Sanders bagged a brace last Saturday and is the leading try scorer with five goals whilst Ronnie McLean Dents leads Myles Dorrian by a point 51 to 50.

They have done well late in games with seven tries in the last 10 minutes of matches.

 

Otley have the joint fewest try bonus points with just one but they have picked up four losing bonus points in their 11 defeats including one last Saturday in their narrow home defeat at the hands of London Welsh.  

In eight of their 11 matches this season they have conceded four or more tries.

 

They last met in the 2006/07 season when Coventry did the double over the Yorkshire side with a 20-3 home win and a 22-16 win at Cross Green.

 

Match Verdict: Home win for Coventry by 10 points over struggling Otley.

 

Manchester v London Welsh 

 

Bottom of the table Manchester are at home to fourth placed London Welsh still looking for their first win of the season.

 

Manchester have lost all 11 matches this season and are a point behind Otley in the league table.

They have started matches poorly with seven tries conceded in the first 10 minutes of matches compared to just one for the Welsh.

 

London Welsh are looking for a third straight win and a fifth win in six matches which have helped them into fourth place in the table.

They have started matches better than the home side with five tries in the opening 10 minutes of matches with Manchester yet to score in this period.

In their eight wins they have given away losing bonus points three times but have only given away one four try bonus point and that was against leaders Leeds Carnegie. .

 

These two last met in the 203/04 season when the Welsh did the double over Manchester and were 36-20 winners at Grove Park.

 

Match Verdict: Away win for London Welsh at Manchester by 14 points.

 

Moseley v Doncaster 

 

Ninth placed Moseley are at home to sixth placed Doncaster and are looking to keep their winning run going.

 

Moseley are looking to make it three wins in a row with a win here as they look to make it into the top half of the table.  

Three times they have conceded four tries in match whilst Doncaster have to concede four tries in a match, whilst three times in their six defeats they have taken a losing bonus point. 

 

Doncaster are looking to end a two match losing run since winning away 41-3 at Sedgley Park back in late October. Both sides have scored 33 tries but the home side have started matches well with seven tries in the opening 10 minutes of matches compared to just two for the visitors.

 

Moseley’s Richard Vasey, in the leading scorer for both sides with 89 points, three ahead of the visitor’s Jamie Lennard.

 

Last season Doncaster did the double over Moseley with an 18-11 win in this fixture and a comfortable 55-5 win at Castle Park.

 

Match Verdict: Go for an away win at Moseley for Doncaster Knights by six points.

 

Newbury v Exeter Chiefs 

 

13^th placed Newbury are at home to 2^nd placed Exeter Chiefs looking for back to back wins for the first time this season. 

 

Newbury are looking to make it three wins in four matches but those wins have come against the bottom two, Otley and Manchester and this will be their toughest test to date.   

They have conceded 42 tries and 12 of those have come in the last 10 minutes of matches which is an area where the Chiefs have done well touching down 10 times already this season.

 

The Chiefs have won nine in a row now and are four points behind leaders Leeds Carnegie and will be looking for all five points to move to the top of the table even if it is only for 24 hours. They have outscored the home side by some 44 tries this season 59 to 15 and taken seven try bonus points with the home side managing just the one.  

 

Chief’s fly half Gareth Steenson is three off Nottingham’s David Jackson at the top of the point’s scorers list with 113, the same as Rotherham’s Tom Barlow.

The Chiefs high scoring wingers Josh Drauniniu and Matt Jess have 17 tries between them which is more than Newbury have managed all season.

   

Last season it was honours even with home advantage counting as Newbury won this match 25-20 after losing 11-6 at Exeter earlier in the season.

 

Match Verdict: Away win for Chiefs away at Monks Lane against Newbury.

 

Sedgley Park v Esher

 

14^th placed Sedgley Park are at home to 12^th placed Esher with both sides in need of a win to try and climb the table.

 

Both sides go into the match with losing runs round their necks but Park have lost nine in a row now since their back to back wins at the start of the season. In nine matches this season they have conceded a try bonus points whilst only managing to pick up one themselves.

Park have actually outscored the visitors 22 tries to 19 but  have yet to score a try in the opening 10 minutes of matches but have conceded nine in this period including four last week against Moseley.

 

Esher have lost their last four since recording back to back wins against Manchester and Newbury and in two of their three wins have conceded a losing bonus point. 

They have the better defensive record of the two with 16 tries fewer conceded, 45 to 61.

 

Last season it was honours even between these two but they were both away day winners, Esher winning 15-13 at Park Lane but earlier in the season they had lost 30-23 at home to Park.

 

Match verdict: Park to beat Esher by seven points at Park Lane.

 

Cornish Pirates v Leeds Carnegie 

 

Eighth placed Cornish Pirates are at home to league leaders Leeds Carnegie looking to try and end the visitors unbeaten start to the season. 

 

The Pirates have a draw and three straight wins in their last four matches including back to back away wins at Bedford Blues and Esher. They have though only picked up two try bonus points this season compared to eight for Leeds.

Interestingly the Pirates have stopped the opposition scoring tries in three of their 11 matches compared to just once by the visitors.

 

Leeds Carnegie have won all 11 matches and run in 65 tries twice the number that the Pirates have managed and 10 of them have come in the opening 10 minutes of matches but the Pirates have only conceded once in this period.

 

These two sides met for the only time back in 2006/07 when both matches were incredibly close, this matched ended in a 21 all draw whilst the game at Headingley earlier in the season saw Leeds one point winners 21-20. 

 

Match Verdict: Leeds to win away at the Cornish Pirates by 10 points. 

 

Nottingham v Rotherham Titans

 

Third placed Nottingham will be looking to get back to winning ways at home to 11^th placed Rotherham Titans after their loss at Exeter Chiefs last Saturday.

 

Nottingham saw their nine match winning run come to an end last Saturday when they were beaten by second placed Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park.

There is not much to chose between the sides attacking wise with Nottingham just ahead with 42 tries to 40 but defensively is where there is a big difference.

Nottingham have conceded 20 tries in 11 matches whilst the Titans have shipped 37 including nine in the last 10 minutes of matches which is where Nottingham have scored the most with 11. 

 

The Titans returned to winning ways last Saturday in a closely fought home match against Coventry 28-27. In their last away match they were beaten at London Welsh but prior to that they had recorded wins at Manchester and the Cornish Pirates.

 

Last season Nottingham did the double over the Titans after the Yorkshire club had done the double over Nottingham the previous season. Last season at Meadow Lane Nottingham were comfortable 51-7 winners having won 19-7 at Clifton Lane earlier in the season.      

 

Match Verdict: Home win for Nottingham at home to the Titans by 12 points at Meadow Lane.