Rosslyn Park Match Preview

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A vital game for The Dogs as they take on quality outfit Rosslyn Park. Fighting on either spectrum of the table- We push for a top 5 whilst Park look up to secure a top spot.

Jonathan Keep announces the squad ahead of this anticipated thriller

SATURDAY- 18th JAN 2020

The Rock | Rosslyn Park | London
Sale FC 33 v 14 Canterbury RFC – National League D1 – 11th January 2020, Heywood Road, Sale, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, (Credit Image: Gareth Lyons for Sale F.C. 2020)

Last week began a regeneration of form as The Dogs seemed to enjoy their run out against Canterbury. An impressive team try finished off by Matt Bradley made NCA’s ‘Try of the week’ as well as racking up 40k views on England Rugby’s Twitter!

Great to see the lads appreciated for their efforts- a brilliant try!

A dominant display last weekend will certainly help with squad morale heading into a huge game against 3rd-placed Rosslyn Park. The dogs will need to be firing again this week to produce some more quality.

Tote Howcroft, Head Coach- gave his thoughts ahead of the game:

“Saturday sees another journey down the M6 to the capital, where we face a talented and very well coached Rosslyn Park team- who sit only 3 points off the top of the table.

We go there on the back of a good 5 point win against Canterbury, but if we are honest, last Saturday was a long way off a complete 80-minute-performance.

We showed some glimpses of real quality in the first half, which included Matt Bradley’s NCA try of the week, a fantastic team try. However, we will need to go up a few gears this Saturday if we are to challenge a team with title ambitions- looking to bounce back from a London Derby defeat at Blackheath last week.

We look forward to the challenge of ‘The Rock’ this week with the hope of avenging our home defeat back in October.”

6 changes have been made to the squad with this week. The forwards however, remain unchanged with Juan Pablo Rivas returning back to the squad after an injury spell. He’s joined by Dan Matthews, John Blanchard Jr and Stone Priestley-Nangle all eager to continue their form off the bench to make a difference to an important game.

The Backs feature few changes, with positions mainly changing. Patrick Ah Van comes off his favoured left wing into the Centres alongside Jack Moorhouse who starts at 13 this week. Jonty Rawcliffe remains on the right wing with Anthony ‘Bingo’ Bingham returning to the left. Emiliano Calle Rivas starts this week at fullback after impressing off the bench against Canterbury. Chris Owen returns to the bench hoping to also make an impact.

Tom Brady and Fergus Mulchrone remain sidelined with injuries whilst James Williams starts at 12 again for the Sharks this weekend against Glasgow Warriors. We wish him all the best.

1st team Captain, Andy Hughes has said:

“We are expecting a tough game when we travel down to London this weekend.

Rosslyn Park are a class outfit and are sitting 3rd in the table. They were beaten by Blackheath last week so we are expecting reaction from them as they fight for promotion. But, we have worked hard in training all this week in order to meet this challenge.

We go in with no pressure on us and if we perform well then we back ourselves to get a result.”

Stay up-to-date this weekend with Park’s Live Stream!