Following a first Championship win of 2023 at London Scottish last weekend, Ampthill’ attentions turn to the Cup for the month of February – the Mob are currently second in their group and can still qualify for the Semi-Finals in May!
Ampthill Head Coach Paul Turner makes eleven changes to the XV that started against Scottish – some ever-present players rested providing an opportunity to those that have been performing in the 1881s to play 1stXV!
Tighthead Luke Green makes his Ampthill debut alongside Syd Blackmore and Dom Hardman in the front row. Cam Boon returns alongside captain Charlie Beckett in the engine room with impressive Fyn Brown moving to the back row. Paddy Ryan came on after 5 minutes against Scottish and starts on the openside this week whilst Joe Sproston’s experience will be vital to the pack at eight in place of leading try-scorer Morgan Strong!
In the backs division, Turner again rotates his scrum halfs with Lewis Finlay starting and Pete White on the bench whilst last weeks man of the match Tom Hardwick continues at 10. Josh Hallett partners George Worth in midfield and Ampthill have a new backline of Alex Harmes, Josh Skelcey and Ollie Hartley!
Ampthill Academy graduate and Junior Pro Ali Gibbs will make his 1st XV debut from the bench after some impressive performances with the 1881s in their rise to the top of the Raging Bull table! National Two record try-scorer Matt Gallagher is also among the replacements with another potential debutant, George Youngs!
Ahead of the match, Turner commented “The Cup is an important competition for us so a good performance is needed if we want to progress further. We’ve had some terrific battles with Caldy over the years – they’re the form team in the Championship. We are off the back of a mixed performance in London last week that ended well so we need to keep the momentum going.”
Starting XV
- Dom Hardman 2. Syd Blackmore 3. Luke Green 4. Charlie Beckett 5. Cam Boon 6. Fyn Brown 7. Paddy Ryan 8. Joe Sproston 9. Lewis Finlay 10. Tom Hardwick 11. Alex Harmes 12. Josh Hallett 13. George Worth 14. Josh Skelcey 15. Ollie HartleyReplacements:16. Matt Gallagher 17. Griff Phillipson 18. Rob Hardwick 19. Ali Gibbs 20. George Young 21. Pete White 22. Gwyn Parks 23. Ollie Dawkins
