NOTTINGHAM prop Matt Parr has
recovered from an eye injury to reclaim his starting spot against
Bedford on Saturday (September 22).
ON HIS
FEET: Matt Parr will be back in action against Bedford.
PIC: Alison Bowden.
The inclusion of the seasoned
loosehead sees Michael Holford shuffle across to tighthead and Ryan
Bower move back to the replacements bench in what is the only
change to the Green and Whites starting XV that was beaten by
Rotherham last week.
The 27-16 home loss to the Titans has done nothing to panic
Nottingham, with the outfit determined to bounce back immediately
against the Blues.
Having secured back-to-back wins to start the campaign, forwards
coach Neil Fowkes has the utmost confidence in the side responding
the right way against the RFU Championship high flyers.
"By no means are we ripping up everything we have done these
past couple of weeks because of a loss," Fowkes said.
"We showed what we were capable of against Leeds after a slow 20
minutes, using the maul to get into the game and setting the
platform for the backs. Against Moseley we put another good 60
minutes together to grind out a tough win.
"We all talk about producing an 80 minute performance and that's
precisely what we need, because for 60 minutes against Rotherham we
were comfortably in it."
The letdown of conceding their first loss at home has been a
powerful motivator at Nottingham's Lady Bay training ground this
week.
"Some boys came in last week and were hugely disappointed in how
they performed personally.
There was a good realisation with where we are at," Fowkes
said.
"In terms of selection it would be difficult to say 'that is
your one chance gone' and change things immediately. No, they know
what they have to do this week and we have kept the faith in
them.
"There has been a good mindset at training all week with a real
buzz about getting back out there, because everyone from the
coaching team down wants to put things right."
As for the solitary change, Parr's early season form was too
good to ignore.
"With how Matt performed in those first two league games, and
the experience he brings to that front five, as soon as he was 100
per cent fit he was going to be back in the team," Fowkes said.
The only other changes to the match day 22 is the inclusion of
newly signed hooker Scott Wright from Sedgley and the recall of
centre Joe Cobden to the bench.
No matter who is named to do the job, Fowkes stressed that the
Green and Whites cannot fall victim to their own mistakes
again.
A spate of second half errors curtailed Nottingham's chances
against Rotherham, culminating in blunders that led directly to
both of the visitor's tries.
"We've spoken about it a lot and seen it on the match footage
plenty of times. We did a lot of things that made it hard for
ourselves," Fowkes said.
"What we must do is stick to our systems, stay with the
programme and follow through with the game plan."
Nottingham Rugby team to face Bedford at Goldington Road
on Saturday, September 22 (3pm kick-off): 15 Andrew Savage
14 David Jackson 13 Tim Streather 12 Joe Munro 11 Rhys Crane 10
James Arlidge 9 Sean Romans 1 Matt Parr 2 Joe Duffey 3 Michael
Holford 4 Dan Montagu 5 Nic Rouse 6 Rupert Cooper 7 Brent Wilson 8
Alex Shaw.
Replacements from: 16 Scott Wright 17 Ryan Bower 18 Joe Quinn 19
Tom Calladine 20 Finlay Barnham 21 Rory Lynn 22 Joe Cobden.
Nottingham Rugby v Bedford Blues
NOTTINGHAM'S INDIVIDUAL
RECORDS
Statistics in a
MATCH
Tries
4 Arthur Derry (a) 14 Feb 1925, Neil
Back (h) 18 Mar 1989, Gary Hartley (h) 18 Nov 1989
Conversions
6 Simon Hodgkinson (a) 21 Sep 1985,
Andy Sutton (h) 18 Mar 1989, Simon Hodgkinson (h) 18 Nov 1989
Penalties
6 Simon Hodgkinson (a) 17 Sep
1983
Drop
Goals
1 Sandy Neilson (h) 30 Nov 1907,
Calvin Round (a) 09 Sep 1950, Harley Atherton (a) 20 Sep 1958, John
Mawby (a) 16 Sep 1972, Greg Colbourne (h) 16 Sep 1978, Ben Thompson
(a) 27 Dec 2004
Points
20 Simon Hodgkinson (a) 21 Sep
1985
Statistics in a
CAREER
Appearances
14 Richard Byrom, Craig Hammond
13 Peter Cook, Simon Hodgkinson,
David Jackson
12 John Pearce, Andrew Warner
Tries
7 Gary Hartley
5 Arthur Derry, Steve Holdstock,
David Jackson
4 Neil Back, Matt Greenwood, Luke
Sherriff
Recent
History
2006/07 12 Nov 06
W
h 29-28 Rohaan
Nirmalendran (2t), Joe Duffey (t), Penalty try, Tom Barlow (3c,
p).
2006/07 17 Mar 07
L
a 10-14 Nic
Rouse (t), Neil Stenhouse (c), Tom Barlow (p).
2007/08 16 Sep 07
W
h 31-16 Luke
Sherriff (2t), Alex Dodge (t), Tim Molenaar (t), Tom Barlow (4c,
p).
2007/08 29 Dec 07
W
a 27-26 Alex
Dodge (t), Andrew Savage (t), Luke Sherriff (t), Matt Smith
(t), Tim Usasz (t), Ben Thompson (c).
2008/09 26 Oct 08
W
h 15- 7
Joe Duffey (t), David Jackson (t, c, p).
2008/09 21 Feb 09
L
a 16-23 David
Jackson (t), Dan Montagu (t), Tim Taylor (2p).
2009/10 25 Oct 09
W
h 30-29 Phil
Eggleshaw (t), Luke Sherriff (t), Tim Streather (t), Tim Taylor
(t), Greig Tonks (2c, 2p).
2009/10 16 Jan
10
L
a 19-51 Ben
Johnston (t, c), Ben Pienaar (t), Tom Youngs (t), Tim Taylor
(c).
2010/11 24 Oct 10
L
h 13-24 Alex
Shaw (t), James Arlidge (c, 2p).
2010/11 29 Jan
11
L
a 19-47 Andrew
Savage (t), Cesar Sempere (t), Tom Youngs (t), James Arlidge
(2c).
2011/12 04 Sep 11
L
h 26-28 Mike
Holford (2t), David Jackson (t), Kieran Hallett (c, 3p).
2011/12 25 Feb
12 L
a 26-40 David Jackson
(2t), Andrew Forsyth (t), Alex Lewington (t), Kieran Hallett
(3c).