Fowkes adds fresh blood for trip down to Pirates
NOTTINGHAM head coach Neil Fowkes is not underestimating the challenge of facing Cornish Pirates at the Mennaye today despite making seven changes to his side.
Four consecutive victories see Nottingham arrive in Penzance in hot form and Fowkes stressed the significance of keeping his team on their toes as they try to launch themselves higher in the Championship standings.
“We’ve had a run of five Friday night games, which comes with its own challenges in terms of keeping people fresh and keeping people fit,” explained Fowkes, whose side sit seventh in the table.
“So we felt going down to Pirates, it’s a long trip and an away game on Sunday that looks like it will be played in pretty atrocious conditions.
“It’s important that we freshen up the side. There are some battered and bruised bodies after a run of four wins and we’ve got a long way to go in the season with another nine fixtures after this one.”
Fowkes has given reliable full-back Sean Scanlon a two-week break from playing and, without Murray McConnell available, hooker Luke Cole will captain the visitors.
Nottingham will also utilise dual-registered players Karl Garside and Tui Uru in their pack, with the Northampton Saints duo starting at tighthead prop and on the blindside flank respectively.
Fowkes added: “Luke is a big part of the leadership group, he works really hard off the field and is a well-respected member of the squad. He leads by example in games anyway and it’s pretty natural for him to take on that role.
“There are some dualregistered boys in there that we want to use before they go back into their A-League programme, so it made sense to freshen things up and they are quality lads.
“It also means that a lot of the boys who played last week are on the bench and they can make the end of the game impact that we’re looking for.”
Cole and Garside will be joined in the front row by Tom Hill, while Jordan Coughlan is recalled to start at No.8.
In the backs, impressive scrum-half Alex Crocker, who set up a try in last week’s win, centre Harry Strong and wing Ben Foley all add to a much-changed Nottingham, who lost the corresponding fixture 2413 at the Bay.
Cornish Pirates have been given the major boost of centre Nick De Battista’s return from injury after almost five months out of action.
De Battista is named on the bench, while the starting line-up has three changes made by director of rugby Chris Stirling after last week’s 47-31 win over Coventry.
Rhodri Davies makes his first league start at scrum-half after bench duty last week, while tighthead prop Sam Rodman and Josh Caulfield come into the pack.