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Saturday 20th November
Bedford Blues v Pertemps Bees
Two teams coming off the back of defeats and dropping down the table meet at Goldington Road on Saturday.
Bedford put up a good fight before going down by 10 points at Plymouth Albion on Saturday. They have only played three league matches at home this season, all against teams in the bottom four, and have yet to lose. They have only conceded four tries in the three matches. They have now dropped to ninth in the division and this is their toughest test on home soil this season.
Pertemps Bees lost their unbeaten home record when they were surprisingly turned over by Nottingham on Saturday. Amazingly, the Bees, who had scored 30 tries this season, could only breach the Nottingham defence once, and this is the team which had conceded 45 tries prior to Saturday, the worst in the league by some margin. Additionally, Nottingham scored three tries at Sharmans Cross Road, where this season, Otley, Penzance and Plymouth only managed to score two between them. The Bees slipped to fifth in the league after this defeat and will be looking to redeem themselves as they aim to improve an away return of three wins from five games.
Bedford have only lost one of the last five meetings between the sides and have won the last three at Goldington Road. This is expected to be close on Saturday and home advantage may give Bedford another victory.
Prediction: Bedford to win by 5 points
Exeter Chiefs v Coventry
Two sides, unbeaten at home, meet at the County Ground on Saturday. Exeter looking to keep the pressure on top of the table Bristol and Coventry trying to keep in touch with the top five.
Exeter won a hard fought game at Sedgley Park on Saturday. They are the only side in the league to gain a bonus point from every game they have played this season. They have now jumped to second in the league and won their three matches at the County Ground with a combined score of 121 points and a lowest score of 38 points.
Coventry beat Otley on Saturday 27-26 with outside half Matt Leek kicking nine penalties from nine attempts. This equals the National One record set by Marcus Barrow for Manchester in their win against Wakefield in 2001. They maintained their unbeaten record at the Butts Arena, but away from home they have not been so impressive and have lost three from four including heavy defeats at Bristol and Plymouth.
Coventry have not won at the County Ground in their last seven visits and are unlikely to come away with the points on Saturday.
Prediction: Exeter to win by 12 points
Henley Hawks v Plymouth Albion
Third from bottom Henley entertain third from top Plymouth at Dry Leas on Saturday.
Henley were unfortunate not to record their first away win of the season on Saturday going down 26-25 at Orrell after missing seven from nine attempts at goal. They sit in a group in the bottom four, only separated by two points, and have only one win to their credit this season. That was a comfortable victory over Sedgley Park but they have also lost three home matches by big margins to Plymouth’s fellow championship contenders Bristol, Exeter and Pertemps Bees.
Plymouth won at Brickfields for the fifth time in five outings last weekend to move into third spot. They have the best defensive record in the division and have only conceded 12 tries in their nine matches. They have won two from four away games and will be favourites to make it three on Saturday.
These teams met for the first time in league rugby last season and Plymouth won them both easily. They should win again on Saturday.
Prediction: Plymouth to win by 8 points
Nottingham v Sedgley Park
An important clash at Ireland Avenue on Saturday sees last year’s two promoted clubs, sitting 10th and 11th in the league, looking to get four or five points that will take them further away from the relegation positions.
Nottingham pulled off the biggest shock of the season so far by winning at Pertemps Bees last Saturday. They are now in 10th position and if they were to win on Saturday they would put daylight between themselves and the bottom four. They have only won one of their five home fixtures to date and that was against Henley.
Sedgley Park gave Exeter a fright on Saturday before going down at Park Lane. They are in 11th position in the league and have won once on their travels this season, at bottom club London Welsh.
Games against these sides have been even over the last three seasons. Nottingham have won the last two at home and may sneak in again on Saturday.
Prediction: Nottingham to win by 5 points
Otley v London Welsh
Otley welcome London Welsh to Cross Green looking to move up to the tails of the leading group again.
Despite scoring two tries to nil on Saturday, Otley went down to Coventry 27-26 and were denied becoming the first away team to win at the Butts Arena. They have won three from four at home this season and will be strongly fancied to improve their record against bottom of the table London Welsh.
London Welsh were beaten by poor travellers Penzance and Newlyn on Saturday and now occupy bottom spot in the division. They have won away at Orrell this season and lost the other three.
Otley completed a league double against London Welsh last season and have not been beaten by them at Cross Green since 1998. Saturday should see another home victory.
Prediction: Otley to win by 10 points.
Sunday 21st November
Bristol v Orrell
Top of the table Bristol entertain next to bottom Orrell at the Memorial Ground on Sunday.
They passed their toughest test this season on Saturday when they pipped Rotherham by a point courtesy of a last minute penalty by Jason Strange. They have now opened up a six point gap on second and third placed Exeter and Plymouth. They have only lost one game at home this season and won all their away matches
Orrell got their first win of the season at home to Henley on Saturday but they had to thank Simon Mason for converting a last minute penalty. They were expected to win by a bigger margin with the return of their Sale contingent but in the end will have been happy to have gained four league points and move off the bottom. They are finding tries hard to come by and have only crossed the line of the opposition 14 times in 9 matches, the lowest in the league. They have yet to win away from five starts but held Bedford to a creditable draw at the beginning of October.
Orrell completed a league double against Bristol last season but many changes have taken place since then and expect a high scoring home victory on Sunday.
Prediction: Bristol to win by 26 points
Penzance & Newlyn v Rotherham
Probably the trickiest call of the day in this division as strong at home Penzance take on a Rotherham side who have only played twice away from home from their eight games to date.
Penzance are difficult to beat at Mennaye Field and only Bristol have won there this season. They have defended very well on home soil and have only conceded four tries in four matches. They had a good win at bottom club London Welsh on Saturday.
Rotherham were beaten in the last minute by leaders Bristol last weekend, only their second defeat of the season and first in the league at Clifton Lane. They have won one of two away from home this season and only conceded two tries in the two games.
Another point of note on defence is that both these teams have only conceded one try in the first 20 minutes of all games this season.
They have never met in league rugby. Although a case can be made for either side, the visitors may prove to be just too strong.
Prediction: Rotherham to win by 4 points
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