Coventry Rugby return to Butts Park Arena this Saturday as they host Hartpury Rugby in Round 18 of the Champ Rugby season, with kick-off scheduled for 15:00.
With just one place separating the sides in the table – Coventry currently 5th and Hartpury 4th – this weekend’s meeting promises to be a pivotal contest in the race for the Champ Rugby top spots.
Coventry head into the fixture boasting one of the most potent attacking records in the league. The Blue & Whites rank 2nd in the Championship for both tries scored (83) and total points (576) this season, underlining their threat with ball in hand.
In last time out, both Sam Maunder and Api Bavadra registered a round-leading four offloads apiece, contributing to a team performance that saw Coventry top the league’s offload charts for both the season (158) and the latest round (14). The side also maintained a perfect goal-kicking success rate (100%) across the round.
Hartpury, however, arrive with strengths of their own – particularly at the set-piece and defensive breakdown. They lead the Champ this season with 35 lineout steals and 22 maul penalties won, while Harry Bazalgette topped the kicking metrics in the latest round with 554 kick metres and 10 kicks bounced.
Defensively, Robbie Smith has been a standout performer for the visitors, leading the league for both interceptions (4)and tackle turnovers won (6) this campaign. Hartpury also boast the Champ Rugby’s best goal-kicking success rate (82.1%) and have accumulated a league-high 14,052 kick metres this season.
Tickets available at: www.coventryrugby.co.uk/tickets/
Coventry Rugby Starting XV
- Aristot Benz-Salomon
- Jordon Poole (C)
- Eliot Salt
- Mackenzie Graham
- Senitiki Nayalo
- Allan Ferrie
- Tom Ball
- Morgan Strong
- Sam Maunder
- Tommy Mathews
- Api Bavadra
- Morgan Adderly-Jones
- Dafydd-Rhys Tiueti
- David Opoku-Fordjour
- Tom Bacon
Replacements
- Murray Davidson
- Keston Lines
- Matt Johnson
- Jack Shine
- Onisivoro Sukani Nayagi
- Josh Barton
- Ewan Baker
- Dan Green