The final whistle on Saturday will mark the end of the first half of the season with all teams having played each other once and this week its top versus bottom as leaders Burton travel to Sutton Coldfield who only have two wins to their name. These wins have come against Wolverhampton and Camp Hill who occupy two of the bottom four places. As with previous weeks, we can assess the opposition form with their performance against Bromsgrove. This was encouraging as Sutton and for much of the game they led the third placed team only for Bromsgrove to score late in the match and secure a 24-20 victory. The result and closeness of the game could be more to do with the poor form of Bromsgrove rather than the resurgence of Sutton.

The Crofters should however be wary of the visit to Walmley Road as only last season they arrived as clear favourites only to put in a very mediocre performance that Sutton took full advantage of and ended up victors by 18 points to 16. So you could say Burton owe them one and the coaching staff are sure to air the mistakes made last season with the players at training.

If was bound to happen at some point and last week it was the day when the team just did not fire as a unit. To be fair and to their credit Stourbridge Lions defended really well and asked questions of the Burton team, which previously had not been asked. There line speed in defence was particular impressive as well as the aggression in the tackle and breakdown. At one point just after half time Lions scored a well-deserved try and led 8 points to seven. This did however trigger a response from Burton and it was pleasing to see the lads grind out a victory 33-13. There were a few frustrated players in the changing rooms afterwards, which shows the level of performance the players are trying to attain each week. Nevertheless, a five tries to two victory was not a bad return for the afternoons work.

Jono Edwards, Team Manager, summarized the game:

“It was quite heated in the player’s huddle at half time as Director of Rugby, Mark Tweddle, had a few harsh words to share with the players based on their first 40 minutes effort. But it was also a time for cool heads and all that needed to happen was for the players to again think about what kind of game plan was going to be able to breach the opposition. The Lions line speed in defence meant we could not transfer the ball out wide and into open spaces so what was need was for us to be more direct and carry hard. It is pretty much what happened against stoke the previous week. It’s not pretty but its effective and means that once we are behind the opposition we then have them on the back foot and we can then play. The gaps then open up for us to exploit”.

As with last week, there are very few players unavailable so coaches Whitehall and Barlow have a full squad to select from. Both the front row and second row are unchanged which means Lewis Sturgess continues to play out of position and deputise for the injured Joe Gazzard. In the back row, Raymond Jardine is handed his first start alongside skipper Jack Neal and Joe Gorman. The back line sees Will Simpson get the nod over Leroy Bitterhout at full back with the later on the bench. Other than this selection decision, the only other change is Nick Oxley who comes in on the wing for the unavailable Harris Mountford. The bench looks very strong with Dominic Taylor and Kelvin Browne sure to come on and make an impact.

Elsewhere the Burton A XV entertain their counterparts from Newbold at Peel Croft on Saturday. With 4th place Newport not playing this week Burton know a win will see them take that 4th place in the Midlands Reserve League Division 1. They will then have both Derby and Towcestrians well in their sights and both still need to make the trip to Brewery capital.

This weeks 1st XV selection: https://vimeo.com/246340450