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News 2015-16

GKIPA Championship preview – Round 3

16/09/2015

Top of the table with a perfect ten points from ten, Bedford Blues are the surprise package of the first two rounds of the Greene King IPA Championship.
 
And Mike Rayer's side – who backed up their opening round win over Bristol with a thrilling 38-32 victory over Moseley last time out – will put their unblemished record on the line on Saturday when they travel to London Scottish.
 
Sam Blanchet, Ollie Dodge, Harry Wells, Jordan Burns and Paul Tupai all scored while Jake Sharp also crossed the whitewash, converting four tries against Moseley to keep Bedford sitting pretty at the top of the table.
 
Scottish however, have won four of the last five meetings between the two sides, including doing the double last season as they finished an impressive third in the table and pushed eventual champions Worcester Warriors hard in the play-offs.
 
Rod Lynch's troops may have stumbled in their opening round defeat to Moseley but having put Ealing Trailfinders to the sword last weekend – 2014/15 top try scorer Mark Bright bagging a double in the 37-17 victory – they will be confident of redressing the balance against the unbeaten Blues.
 
The only other team with two wins from two are Yorkshire Carnegie and last year's sixth-placed finishers will be confident of extending that run against newcomers Ealing Trailfinders.
 
The newly-promoted Trailfinders currently prop up the table while Yorkshire beat Jersey in round one, followed by a hard-fought 20-11 success over local rivals Rotherham last weekend with Chris Walker and Charlie Beech crossing the whitewash.
 
The two sides last met in the 2013/14 season with Carnegie completing comprehensive double victories and flanker Walker, who tops the try-scoring charts with four already, will be hoping to add to his tally.
 
Desperate to make up for lost ground in round one, Bristol Rugby produced a fine showing in their 36-22 win over London Welsh last time out.
 
Tom Varndell crossed for his first try for the club while Gavin Henson added 13 points with the boot in their bonus-point victory. They will now look to continue that momentum when Nottingham visit Ashton Gate on Sunday afternoon.
 
Nottingham, fifth last season, are still searching for their first win of this campaign after narrow losses to the Cornish Pirates and to Doncaster, but history is not on their side against Andy Robinson's men who have not lost to the Green & Whites for the past two seasons.  
 
Conquered by Bristol last time out, London Welsh head to Moseley hoping to get back to winning ways against a team they have beaten four times out of the last five stretching back to the 2011/12 season.
 
Second-from-bottom last year, Moseley have proven to be no pushovers in the opening skirmishes of this season, backing up their surprise win at Scottish in week one with two losing bonus points against Bedford last weekend.
 
Glyn Hughes of Moseley – who will feature in their first home game of the season - is the league's top points scorer on 30, just one in front of Doncaster's Dougie Flockhart who will look to boost his total when the Knights host Jersey on Saturday.
 
Doncaster and Jersey have split the honours over their match-ups in each of the last two seasons and both come into the clash on the back of wins, the former victorious at Nottingham last time out while the Islanders beat Cornish Pirates at home.
 
The Pirates, meanwhile, welcome Rotherham in round three – a side they have not beaten since November 2012, the Titans claiming each of the last five meetings between the two sides.
The Titans, fourth last year, are looking to bounce back from defeat to local rivals Yorkshire Carnegie in round two.

For statistics from round two, click here.

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12 Oct 2023

THE WATERING HOLE

Why not come and chillout in the ‘Watering Hole’ before the game? A full-bar and food is available and you can enjoy some live music after the game.

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