Ealing-slaying Knights target next big scalp
THE last time Doncaster won at the Mennaye Field, a graveyard for many teams including Saracens, they went on to finish second in the table.
A win down in the deepest part of the Duchy today and the Knights’ more excitable supporters might start dreaming they could go one better and actually win the Championship.
Last weekend’s fantastic 22-5 win over an Ealing side whose budget dwarfs that of the Knights took their winning run to five matches and there’s very little daylight between themselves and the top.
But with down-to-earth Steve Boden in charge, you won’t find anyone at Castle Park pumping up their own tyres, Conor Davidson included, even if his efforts against Ealing earned him a place in the Championship clubs’ podcast team of the week.
The Aussie prop, preferred for the Ealing game ahead of veteran Richard List – the only current squad member to start the 26-19 win in February 2016 – is certainly not getting carried away.
“It was an unreal result for the boys and the club as a whole, it’s a big scalp and we were real stoked,” Davidson said. “Not everybody gets to beat a team like Ealing so to do that at home was unreal.
“We had a clear gameplan and I think we adapted well to the conditions. We worked as a pack, we knew what we had to do, and I think executed that as well as we could have done.
“Although we’ve got the energy from the Ealing result, it doesn’t count for anything, rugby is a fastchanging sport and lots changes in a week. We know we’ll need to switch on and be at our best down there to get a result.
“It (Penzance) is a tough place to go to and the chat during the week was that we hadn’t won there for five years or something.”
A Manly player back in Australia, Davidson had previous experience of English rugby at New Brighton and Yorkshire Carnegie.
He played under Knights assistant coach Joe Ford during the disastrous 2019/20 campaign in Leeds before returning home when the season was cut short. But Ford kept in touch and Davidson is glad to be back in the north.
“I’ve had a taste of the Championship before, a couple of years ago and I was definitely wanting to come back,” he said.
“To come here and be in a full-time setup you’ve got no choice but to get better.
“I am just taking it each day as it comes really, and thankfully being a prop I’ve got Steve Boden as a mentor and the other boys to learn from as well.”
Boden has named an unchanged starting XV. There is one change made to the bench as List is replaced by loanee Sale prop, Ben Carlile. The young forward could make his Knights debut if he is required off the bench.
The Pirates make three changes in their starting line-up from the 15-5 defeat at Jersey last weekend.
Fit again full-back AJ Cant returns for what will be his 50th appearance for the Pirates, Shae Tucker slots in at inside centre, and tighthead Sam Rodman makes his first Championship start of the season.
One name to highlight among the replacements is that of club captain Nicolas De Battista who, having been injured last season, will be keen to get a call off the bench.