Catch up with our weekly preview and predictions of National Two Rugby.
Esher v Rugby Lions
Rugby picked up a third win of the season on Saturday in a high scoring win at home to Newbury and are now up to ninth place in the league table.
Esher have managed just the one win in seven matches this season and are looking to end a three match losing streak. In four home matches this season they have managed just the one win and this is the match they see as the one to help turn that run round.
Offensively they have both ran in 20 tries but defensively in is the home side that has the better record with 22 conceded whilst Rugby have let in 30 and 19 of these away from Webb Ellis Road.
Rugby have managed just the one away win this season when early in the season they went to Doncaster and a late try saw them sneak the points.
They met last in the 200/01 season, Rugby’s promotion season, and it was Rugby who did the double over Esher with two comfortable wins.
Team news:
Rugby Lions: The only change to the starting line up from last week sees former Lions star Tim Stannard return on loan from Coventry. He takes over from Ben Smith in the second row. Phil Skillen is fit again and takes a bench seat along with a certain Eddie Saunders.
Prediction: Home win by 10 points.
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Lydney v Nuneaton
Lydney are looking to end their seven losing run in National Two and get that all important first win of the season.
Nuneaton are looking for back to back wins after coming away from Bracknell with two points last Saturday to give the Nuns a 2/2 record away from home and end a two match losing run.
Lydney are struggling to score tries and have managed seven tries in seven matches and have scored four tries fewer than Moseley the next lowest try scorers in the list.
Nuneaton on the other hand have notched up 19 tries and 12 of those coming at Liberty Way.
Lydney also have the worst defensive record with 33 tries conceded whilst Nuneaton have conceded just 16 tries which is the 5th best record in the division.
Team news:
Prediction: Nuneaton to make it back to back away wins.
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Moseley v Sedgley Park
This is the first ever league meeting between the two sides as Sedgley Park going looking for an eighth consecutive league win to maintain their 100% start to the season. Moseley are sitting in sixth spot after their away win at Wharfedale and are now unbeaten in three as their last two home matches both ended in draws.
Moseley have struggled to score tries this season and have managed just 11 so far this campaign which is the second worst record in the division after Lydney.
Park are the second highest try scorers in the division after Harrogate whilst defensively they have the third best record in the division. They have though kicked more penalties than any other side with them and Wharfedale both slotting over 19, nearly three a match.
Team news:
Prediction: Park to make it eight out of eight with 10 point win.
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Newbury v Doncaster
Current form is not on the side of the home side who after a bright start to the season when they won their opening two games has seen them go down to a fifth successive defeat on Saturday at Rugby Lions, as they drop to 12th in the league table.
Doncaster are one of the form sides in the division and on Saturday their narrow one point home win against Rosslyn Park was their fourth in a row as they sit in fifth place in the league table.
Last season this fixture went with home advantage as they met in league rugby for the first time ever.
Team news:
Prediction: Newbury need to win and will by less than five.
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Nottingham v Stourbridge
Stourbridge are one of the form sides in National Two with four straight wins after their win at home to Esher at the weekend.
Nottingham were beaten at the weekend but not after they pushed Sedgley Park all the way before going down to just their second defeat of the season.
Nottingham will have to keep their discipline as the Stourbridge front line kicker Ben Harvey is going through a purple patch and will punish them as he looks for the 12 points to take him to 100 for the season and go towards his second 1000 league points having passed the milestone recently.
In the tries scored department Stourbridge go against the trend and have scored the majority of their tries in the first half13 to four whilst Nottingham have managed just six in the first half but 13 in the second 40 minutes.
Over the last two seasons these two clubs have shared the spoils with two wins apiece, last season though it was the away side that triumphed each time.
Team news:
Prediction: Home advantage to count but by seven or less.
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Rosslyn Park v Harrogate
Harrogate go into the match looking for a fourth straight win as they look to try and maintain the pressure on leaders Sedgley Park.
The visitors are taking their time settling down in National Two after a season away winning just two of their seven matches so far this season. They did though put up a good performance last week at Doncaster matching them with three tries each but going down by a single point.
Harrogate at the free scorers in the division and with 35 tries in seven matches have scored nine more than anybody else. They also finish games strongly with 15 tries coming in the final quarter of matches virtually twice as many as any other side.
They have also scored more tries away from home with 19 compared to 16 at Claro Road.
When they last met two seasons ago it was one win each with both sides taking the away fixture although with five wins out of the last seven Park have had better of the fixture in recent times.
Team news:
1 Tom Wells, 2 Paul Byford, 3 James Cure, 4 James Hayes, 5 Lee Gibson
(Capt.), 6 Shaun Justice, 7 Graham Boardman, 8 Ollie Hankey, 9 Mike Friday, 10 Sam Howard, 11 Nick Marsh, 12 Matt Pitt, 13 Mark Ireland,
14 James Justice, 15 Richard Jackson
Tom Wells starts in the front row replacing Jon Cooke whilst in the back row Graham Boardman is back in with James Ryan missing out. In the backs Nick Marsh comes in on the left wing for Matt Morgan.
Prediction: Away win by 10 for Harrogate.
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Wharfedale v Bracknell
Both sides went down to home defeats last week in matches they would both have hoped to win.
Bracknell after a positive start to the season have now gone four matches without a win, losing three and drawing one.
Wharfedale after winning their opening five league games Wharfedale have go down to defeat in their last two matches and slipped a place to third in the table.
In offence Bracknell have got nearly double the number of tries that Wharfedale have scored with 22 to 12. Defensively though it is Wharfedale who are clearly superior. Wharfedale have the best record in the division with just 11 tries conceded whilst Bracknell have conceded twice as many with 22 including 18 in the second half.
Bracknell have the Indian sign over the Dalesman and have won the last four matches between the two sides including a 17-3 win at Threshfields last season. When they first met in the 1999/00 season it was Wharfedale who did the double over Bracknell.
Team news:
The Greens welcome back flanker Tony Jackson and scrum-half Sam Cottrell for the home encounter with Bracknell (kick-off 2.30). Gareth Johnston is back from holiday, but must accept that his one week's absence means he starts the game on the bench.
If Wharfedale, having lost two on the trot following a very encouraging start to the season, are anxious to put a stop to what might become a mini-slide, Bracknell must be at least as keen for a result. One of last season's front runners for much of the time, they began this season with 3 straight wins - but since then have earned just one point (a draw with Moseley) from 4 games.
Stats can often lie, but for the Dalesmen the figures are stark. They have conceded less tries (11) than any other team in the division - but only Lydney and Moseley have scored less. However, sound defence must be the best possible base from which to launch improvement in the other record!
Wharfedale: Andy Hodgson; Jonathan Davies, Chris Malherbe, Andy Baggett, Andy Lovatt; David Pears, Sam Cottrell; Philip Peel, James Ogden, Neil Dickinson, David Lister, Antony Capstick, Tony Jackson, Hedley Verity, Ben Wade.
Substitutes: Craig Ingram, Gavin Hindle, Paul Evans, Gareth Johnston.
Prediction: Wharfedale by less than seven.
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