Nottingham Rugby hope to keep the cup dream alive this Saturday when they take on Ealing Trailfinders at Trailfinders Sports Ground for the quarter final of the Championship Cup.
The Green and White’s cup campaign went right to the wire. A remarkable away win at Doncaster Knights in the final round of the pool stage saw them qualify from the competitive group as one of the highest performing third place sides in the competition.
Neil Fowkes’ side faced Ealing earlier in the season in a memorable encounter that Nottingham won 42-27.
Since that victory, Nottingham have been plagued with injuries in their pack, with Danny Qualter, Llewelyn Jones, Aniseko Sio, James Penman, Mike Daniels and club captain Tom Holmes all unavailable.
However, full-back Sean Scanlon returns to give a boost to the backline after recovering from a head injury.
Speaking ahead of the match, Head Coach Neil Fowkes said: “It’s true that we have been struggling with injuries over the winter break, but we believe in every one of our players. Our squad is built around togetherness and I am confident that every single one of our players is more than capable of delivering.
“Ealing are a very good side and we are looking forward to giving them a good game in the capital tomorrow.”
Full side to face Ealing Trailfinders:
15. Sean Scanlon
14. David Williams
13. Will Millett
12. Luke Peters
11. Alex Goble
10. Shane O’Leary
9. Darryl Veenendaal (C)
1. Jamie Jack
2. Ben Brownlie
3. Oisin Heffernan
4. Seb Cecil
5. Shane Buckley
6. George Cox
7. Will Owen
8. Josh Poullet
Replacements:
16. Luke Cole
17. George Thornton (dual registered)
18. Cecil MacCarthy
19. JJ Broberg
20. Jake Farnworth
21. Murray McConnell
22. Gearoid Lyons
Nottingham’s next home match sees them face Yorkshire Carnegie at The Bay on Friday 8 February at The Bay. Advance tickets for the match can be purchased here.