Bedford toughening up for promotion bid
BEDFORD player-coach Alex Rae reckons adding grit to his side’s traditional running game will ensure Championship favourites Bristol do not have things their own way.
Rae has returned to the Blues after four years at Jersey, the last of which he spent coaching their redoubtable forwards, and the former Northampton lock believes Bedford are piecing together a pack capable of creating dominance against the best.
He told TRP: “I had four great years at Jersey and we had a lot of success in developing forwards who’ve gone up to the Premiership or PRO12.
“Jersey’s been a bit of a conveyor belt so, hopefully, they can continue that, but it was the right time to come back to Bedford and if we bring an element of that forward power alongside the attacking style we like to play, it will make us a dangerous team.
“We’ve brought in props Sean McCarthy from Jersey and Alex Penny from Ealing, both of whom are looking very good and fit the Bedford style by being able to play a bit, while hooker Tom Lindsay has been a really good acquisition from Saracens.
“Tom has a lot of Premiership experience from Wasps and Gloucester as well and he’ll be a very great Championship player, so we’re very happy with the recruitment we’ve done and believe we’re putting together a very well balanced squad.”
Rae is equally happy with a backline that contains young former Premiership hopefuls with plenty to prove like Will Hooley (ex-Exeter), Howard Packman (Northampton) and Richard Lane (Bath), bolstered by ex-England scrum-half Lee Dickson.
“All those young guys are enjoying themselves at Bedford and if you’re a back with any sort of attacking ambition, this is the place to be,” Rae said.
“It’s almost the opposite of Jersey, where things were very forward-orientated, and guys like Richard Lane are getting the freedom to throw the ball around.
“Howard Packman’s got tremendous pace and looks an exciting player.
“And then there’s Will Hooley who is a classy No.10 eager to get some regular game time after a frustrating spell at Exeter and should form a seriously good partnership with Lee Dickson. Will seems hungry and if he translates that into controlling games and does well, he’s one of those players Premiership clubs will look at again.”
As for mounting a title challenge to Bristol, Rae adds: “You look at Bristol and the money they’ve spent and you can’t really look past them, but we think we can be a dangerous team and if we start well we’d be confident of a decent season.
“We’ll stay true to Mike Rayer’s attacking style of rugby but we hope to bring a more rounded edge.
“The Championship demands you adapt to different conditions and we need to find other ways to win, which is where my main influence lies.”