Wirral preview
Huddersfield RU could make it eight league wins from as many when they travel to Wirral on Saturday.
After their stunning 58-9 win against Ilkley last weekend, Huddersfield will look to make it back to back wins on the road, but head coach Gareth Lewis warns that his side will yet again have to be at their defensive best in a tough task at the Memorial Ground.
“Although we performed well at Ilkley last week, I thought we dropped off the intensity in the opening twenty minutes of the first half,” said Lewis.
“We also threw away three or four try scoring opportunities by our inaccuracies so we’ve got to be better. Our set piece laid the foundations for the win and we’ve got to dominate up front once again this week. Once we give our backs front foot ball, we are confident we can cause teams problems so the forwards must front up once again.”
Wirral sit fourth in the National North Three table and have only lost two games so far this season.
The Liverpool based side finished second last season which meant they faced a play-off against National Midlands Three runners up Hinckley, with the winner gaining promotion to the National North Two.
Although they were ahead 15-10 at half time, Wirral were outplayed in the second half and lost 33-20 down in Leicester.
With that in mind, Wirral will have hoped to go one better this season and will want to throw Huddersfield off their unbeaten perch.
“Wirral were a stone’s throw away from promotion to National Two last season,” said Lewis. “They have beaten good sides such as Rossendale, Sandal and Doncaster Phoenix this season and are built around lads who have risen through the clubs age grade system. We are well aware of the tough but exciting challenge ahead.”
Wirral’s only defeats this season came one after the other. They lost at home to Kendal 22-14 before a 35-12 loss away to Billingham a week later. Since then, though, they’ve put in two five point wins, the first a 32-18 home win against Hull and next a 64-5 hammering in their short journey against Firwood Waterloo last weekend.
They also did the double over Huddersfield YMCA last season winning 44-27 at home before a 29-22 victory in Salendine Nook.
Lewis has made one change to the starting XV. Ben Morrill makes a start in the back row as Lewis continues his squad rotation policy for the expense of Adam Malthouse, who drops to the bench.
Meanwhile, Mark Pease remains an absent as he is still two weeks away from a return following a groin tear.
The team coach leaves at Lockwood Park at 11:30am.
15. Lewis Workman
14. Brandon Conway
13. Elliot Hodgson
12. Tom Owen
11. Danny Grainger
10. Chris Bell
9. Joel Hinchliffe
8. Nick Sharpe
7. Lewis Bradley
6. Ben Morrill
5. Austen Thompson
4. Nick Rhodes
3. Adam Tamanis
2. Fran Entresengle
1. Alex Battye (Captain)
Replacements
Reuben Pollard
Adam Malthouse
Ben Hoyle
