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Aaron Hinkley to make first Championship start of the season
By Paul Smith
The introduction of all-action flanker Aaron Hinkley is the only change made to Coventry Rugby's starting line-up for tomorrow's home game against Bedford Blues (Butts Park Arena, 3pm kick off).
The former Northampton back-rower's selection sees Fijian powerhouse Senitiki Nayalo move from his usual role at No.8 into the second row where he partners Obinna Nkwocha.
In a further positional switch, former England forward Matt Kvesic moves across the back-row from the openside flank to replace Nayalo at no.8 while Tom Ball completes the back-row on the blindside flank.
Elsewhere in the pack, head coach Alex Rae retains the same starting front row combination with fit-again club captain Jordon Poole named as replacement hooker.
It is a case of as-you-were behind the scrum where Cov retain the back division that began their 19-45 success at the Richmond Athletic Ground last Friday.
This means Liam Richman who kicked 15 points in a perfect six-from-six display from the tee makes his home league debut at fly-half alongside Josh Barton.
Rhys Anstey takes Hinkley's seat among the replacements where Rae again opts for six forwards.
The Blue-and-Whites' second personnel change sees recent recruit Charlie Morris given the chance to make a first league start for his new club from the bench where he provides cover for the outside backs.
Looking ahead to a mouth-watering opening home league game which is set to be played in front of a bumper crowd, Rae said his former club will offer a stern test of Cov’s credentials.
“Bedford are a really good team and after making a great start last week they’ll be coming here full of confidence so we’re expecting a tough game,” he said.
“Starting with a good win at Scottish also means we approach this week with confidence - when you send the team out with a game plan and it works it generates that extra bit of belief.
“We have a good squad to choose from with very few injuries and we’ve made one or two changes this week to reflect how we want to play.”
Coventry: Davies; Martin, Morris, Tiueti, Hutler; Richman, Barton; Trinder, Ma'asi, Nairau; Nkwocha, Nayalo; Ball, Hinkley, Kvesic.
Replacements: Poole, Warren, Johnson, Tyas, Anstey, Lane, Morris, Okeke
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Latest Comments
He's got to suck it up for the team. That's all it's got to help. He is the back up 10, that's the state theyre in. I don't understand how you can see it any different, should they have gone into these 3 big games with no tested backup?
They didn't discard Pero, he got injured, and is still injured.
Go to commentsAustralia aren't going to be top 6. We could stop there.
But Australia are going to have to get top 6 with 3 or 4 less opportunities in July to climb the rankings, and isn't TRC shorter as well? Meanwhile a team like Argentina is going to face a heavily weakened England. Hell, even England could be struggling or susceptible to dropping out of the 6.
Maybe this is the reason they have never held the draw this late before!
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