Post by Jamie Crawford on Oct 31, 2022 16:24:51 GMT
Coventry in Cup Rugby preview
sponsored by Twenty Four IT Services (www.twentyfourit.co.uk)
Championship Cup Round one, 5th November 2.30pm Castle Park
Doncaster Knights welcome Coventry to Castle Park for the Knight’s second consecutive home game.
Championship Cup
The RFU Championship Cup was introduced in 2018 to provide a cup competition for English second tier clubs following the disbanding of the British and Irish Cup at the end of the 2017–18 season.
Teams place different emphasis on players and tactics with it being a competition and not the league. Sometimes this pays off and the team formulates new plays, players, player positions and strategies for future league games but other times it does not. A Head Coach often views this as an acceptable loss as it doesn’t affect league performance or position. On the plus side, it can often lead to high-scoring matches and exciting rugby on display.
There are three pools; the Knights are in Pool B with Bedford Blues, Coventry and London Scottish.
Coventry RFC
…are a fully professional outfit with beneficial relationships with Wasps, Leicester Tigers, Northampton Saints, Sale Sharks and Exeter Chiefs. They often field dual registered (DR) players from these clubs to cover injuries. Their home ground is the Butts Park Arena.
Recent head to head performances
The home team has taken the spoils over the three league games played last year.
12/03/21 Knights 20-19 Coventry
18/09/21 Coventry 39-22 Knights
18/12.21 Knights 31-9 Coventry
The Knights returned four point, 27-31 winners on 08/05/21 in the Cup.
Last time out in the league
Coventry travelled to the Wirral and came back 18-27 winners over Caldy. Hooker Suva Ma’asi scored Cov’s first try from a driving maul. Winger Shea Cornish dotted their second down after racing to the corner. He also scored their third after a ‘show-and-go’ following clever lineout play. Cov then failed to add to their score and possibly handled the second halves’ heavy rain less competently than Caldy who went on to score 15 unanswered points.
Doncaster Knights had an archetypal game of two halves when they beat travelling Ampthill 35-19. Unusually it was the Knights that started on the front foot because they normally improve in the second half, however Ampthill started a come-back in the second half. It was 28-5 to the Knights at half time but then 7-14 in the second half but a win is a win, especially when it includes a try bonus point for scoring four+ tries. Centre Joe Margetts and Sam Daly scored two of the best tries to be scored at Castle Park for many seasons, the first individually after somehow eluding about five tackles. The second from a very effective linkage with Lock Ben Murphy. Hooker Will Holling, Winger Maliq Holden and Back Row John Kelly each also scored a fantastic try.
Coventry danger men (in the league)
Shea Cornish scored two tries in each of their last two games. Suva Ma'asi has scored five tries over seven games and both Cornish and Winger Will Talbot-Davies have dotted down four times. Plus who can forget Back Row Josh Bainbridge’s try-scoring but more try-making performance at Butts Park Arena in last season’s opener.
Fly Half Patrick Pellegrini is their danger man with the boot, the RFU has Pellegrini eighth in the Championship and just two points from sixth. Pellegrini is also very fleet of foot, there is a Facebook video introducing the Australian as “Hot stepper…”
Team strengths and weaknesses
Cov have only scored 33 fewer points than the Knights over seven games, or less than five per game. They have scored three tries fewer.
Cov have conceded 45 more points or just over six per game, these points were nine tries.
Two very even teams.
Cov are the fifth highest points-scorers away and have the fifth best away defensive record. However, the Knights’ 133 most points scored at home surpasses their 87 highest points away. Cov have the equal-second longest current winning streak and have scored the equal-second most bonus points, one more than the Knights. Cov are also the equal-third best travellers but the Knights’ three home wins trumps Cov’s two away wins
Pool B this weekend
Friday
London Scottish v Bedford Blues
Saturday
Doncaster Knights v Coventry
Before the Ampthill game last Saturday the club announced Prop Jake Armstrong has officially joined the Knights from Bristol Bears, after initially joining the Knights on loan.
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
sponsored by Twenty Four IT Services (www.twentyfourit.co.uk)
Championship Cup Round one, 5th November 2.30pm Castle Park
Doncaster Knights welcome Coventry to Castle Park for the Knight’s second consecutive home game.
Championship Cup
The RFU Championship Cup was introduced in 2018 to provide a cup competition for English second tier clubs following the disbanding of the British and Irish Cup at the end of the 2017–18 season.
Teams place different emphasis on players and tactics with it being a competition and not the league. Sometimes this pays off and the team formulates new plays, players, player positions and strategies for future league games but other times it does not. A Head Coach often views this as an acceptable loss as it doesn’t affect league performance or position. On the plus side, it can often lead to high-scoring matches and exciting rugby on display.
There are three pools; the Knights are in Pool B with Bedford Blues, Coventry and London Scottish.
Coventry RFC
…are a fully professional outfit with beneficial relationships with Wasps, Leicester Tigers, Northampton Saints, Sale Sharks and Exeter Chiefs. They often field dual registered (DR) players from these clubs to cover injuries. Their home ground is the Butts Park Arena.
Recent head to head performances
The home team has taken the spoils over the three league games played last year.
12/03/21 Knights 20-19 Coventry
18/09/21 Coventry 39-22 Knights
18/12.21 Knights 31-9 Coventry
The Knights returned four point, 27-31 winners on 08/05/21 in the Cup.
Last time out in the league
Coventry travelled to the Wirral and came back 18-27 winners over Caldy. Hooker Suva Ma’asi scored Cov’s first try from a driving maul. Winger Shea Cornish dotted their second down after racing to the corner. He also scored their third after a ‘show-and-go’ following clever lineout play. Cov then failed to add to their score and possibly handled the second halves’ heavy rain less competently than Caldy who went on to score 15 unanswered points.
Doncaster Knights had an archetypal game of two halves when they beat travelling Ampthill 35-19. Unusually it was the Knights that started on the front foot because they normally improve in the second half, however Ampthill started a come-back in the second half. It was 28-5 to the Knights at half time but then 7-14 in the second half but a win is a win, especially when it includes a try bonus point for scoring four+ tries. Centre Joe Margetts and Sam Daly scored two of the best tries to be scored at Castle Park for many seasons, the first individually after somehow eluding about five tackles. The second from a very effective linkage with Lock Ben Murphy. Hooker Will Holling, Winger Maliq Holden and Back Row John Kelly each also scored a fantastic try.
Coventry danger men (in the league)
Shea Cornish scored two tries in each of their last two games. Suva Ma'asi has scored five tries over seven games and both Cornish and Winger Will Talbot-Davies have dotted down four times. Plus who can forget Back Row Josh Bainbridge’s try-scoring but more try-making performance at Butts Park Arena in last season’s opener.
Fly Half Patrick Pellegrini is their danger man with the boot, the RFU has Pellegrini eighth in the Championship and just two points from sixth. Pellegrini is also very fleet of foot, there is a Facebook video introducing the Australian as “Hot stepper…”
Team strengths and weaknesses
Cov have only scored 33 fewer points than the Knights over seven games, or less than five per game. They have scored three tries fewer.
Cov have conceded 45 more points or just over six per game, these points were nine tries.
Two very even teams.
Cov are the fifth highest points-scorers away and have the fifth best away defensive record. However, the Knights’ 133 most points scored at home surpasses their 87 highest points away. Cov have the equal-second longest current winning streak and have scored the equal-second most bonus points, one more than the Knights. Cov are also the equal-third best travellers but the Knights’ three home wins trumps Cov’s two away wins
Pool B this weekend
Friday
London Scottish v Bedford Blues
Saturday
Doncaster Knights v Coventry
Before the Ampthill game last Saturday the club announced Prop Jake Armstrong has officially joined the Knights from Bristol Bears, after initially joining the Knights on loan.
COYK
DONNY, DONNY, DONNY…
