After a strong opening few weeks in the Greene King IPA Championship, Nottingham Rugby have named their side to face Yorkshire Carnegie away at Huddersfield in their opening fixture of the Championship Cup.

Green and Whites Head Coach Neil Fowkes has made a number of changes to the side that beat Ealing Trailfinders on Friday 26 October, with the club’s crop of Nottingham Trent University (NTU) talent being given the chance to perform on Saturday.

The side also welcomes hooker Samson Ma’asi and number 8 Devante Onojaife, who have joined Nottingham on loan from Northampton Saints, as well as second row Leigh Thompson on loan from Nuneaton, to the starting XV.

Nottingham’s strong links with NTU have provided some fantastic players for the club, with the likes of NTU graduates Josh Poullet, Jack Spittle, Ben Brownlie and Cal Hall featuring regularly for the first team both this season and last season.

Neil Fowkes is looking forward to seeing the current group of NTU players take their chance in the first team on Saturday.

Speaking ahead of the match, he said: “The lads have performed really well since the beginning of the Championship and the Cup is a brilliant opportunity for other members of the team to show their talent at a high level.

“Our NTU players Alex Goble, Harry Graham, David Williams, Jamie Jack, Cecil MacCarthy, Seb Cecil, Alex Crocker, Jake Farnworth, Ben Davis-Moore, Will Sutton, Matt Riddington and Caetano Branco have all shown that they are more than capable of competing at this level and I am looking forward to seeing them show that out on the pitch over the coming weeks.

“These lads are in training week in week out and balancing professional rugby with full-time study. It is a testament to their attitude and work ethic that they continue to improve and they deserve the chance to show that in competitive fixtures.”

Full team to face Yorkshire Carnegie:

15. David Williams
14. Harry Graham
13. Will Millett
12. Luke Peters
11. Alex Goble
10. Gearoid Lyons
9. Darryl Veenendaal (C)
1. Aniseko Sio
2. Samson Ma’asi
3. Oisin Heffernan
4. Leigh Thompson
5. Llewelyn Jones
6. Shane Buckley
7. George Cox
8. Devante Onojaife

Replacements:

16. Luke Cole
17. Jamie Jack
18. Cecil MacCarthy
19. Seb Cecil
20. Josh Poullet
21. Alex Crocker
22. Caetano Branco

Nottingham Rugby’s next home match sees them face Doncaster Knights at The Bay on Friday 16th November. Advance tickets can be purchased here.