Three Army Senior Men will be looking for action on rugby pitches at all ends of England on Friday evening.
At 18:00 Gunner Senitiki Nayalo (7 Para RHA) will be among the replacements for Coventry’s RFU Championship trip to Doncaster.
Coventry beat Bedford with the last kick of the game at Butts Park Arena last Saturday, a game for which Gunner Nayalo had been a late withdrawal after failing a late fitness test. Coventry won at Doncaster in the final game of the 2019/20 season but it will be a tough challenge, with the Knights having plenty of pre-season rugby under their belts and the confidence from a late win themselves earned at Ampthill in Round 1.
Meanwhile Bedford will be looking to put the Round 1 disappointment behind them against Hartpury, a match which kicks off at Goldington Road at 19:45.
The Blues have included Cpl Lewis Bean (Rifles) in the second row, who impressed in the trip to Coventry, despite seeing yellow in the second half for a professional indiscretion. The visitors from Gloucestershire will certainly be in good spirits, having comfortably seen off Richmond on home turf last weekend.
In the Premiership it is little surprise to see Pte Ratu ‘Siva’ Naulago (Yorks) retain his place in the Bristol line-up for their home clash with Wasps (KO 19:45).
Pte Naulago had the stand-out performance in the Premiership last weekend, scoring a scintillating hat trick of tries at Sixways, the last of which put the Bears in the position to snatch a late win.
Bristol top the Premiership table, whereas Wasps have tailed off since the unscheduled two-week break at the end of January, winning just one of their last half-dozen league matches. But they beat Bristol in Round 1 and have won their last 11 matches against the Bears, so Pte Naulago and his team mates will be prepared for a stiff challenge.
Friday’s two RFU Championship games are both being live streamed via www.championshiprugby.co.uk/live-streams, while Bristol versus Wasps is live on BT Sport.
The final match of the weekend to feature Army involvement comes at Kingston Park on Saturday afternoon, where LCpl Semesa Rokoduguni (SDG) will be one of the Bath replacements for their Premiership clash with Newcastle.
Bath’s three-match winning streak was ended by Exeter last time out, while Newcastle have had one win and one loss from their last two matches, their previous two having been cancelled due to positive Covid tests.
Kingston Park has not been a happy hunting ground for Bath, whose last win in the north east was back in 2015.
Kick off is at 12:30 with live coverage on BT Sport Extra 3.
Words © Chris Wearmouth, Header and Featured Image © Alligin Photography, Scrumpix
