Chinnor face ‘big, dominant pack’ at Plymouth

MATT Williams, Director of Rugby, is clear that Chinnor ‘know what to expect’ when they face Plymouth Albion on Saturday (22/11).

The Thame-based side will make the 440-mile round trip to Devon in the hope of making it four games unbeaten in the third tier of English rugby.

Chinnor, who sit fifth in National League 1, and just five points behind second-placed Rosslyn Park, beat Plymouth on the opening day of last season. In the last three weeks, they have come up against big, dominant packs and director of rugby Williams is not expecting anything different this weekend.

“It’s always a good game down in Plymouth” he said. “It’s a great ground, with great supporters, and it’s always a physical welcome. They have a big pack – pretty much the same as the last couple of weeks – and they’re going to come at us hard.”

Williams, whose side will travel to Plymouth on Friday, added: “It’s always windy down there as well. I would imagine it’s going to be pretty heavy under foot, which will suit them so we’re pretty confident we know what’s coming and it’s going to be another week of fronting up.

“The boys understand they cannot defend like they did in the second half last week, but if we can get the balance right, I think we will do well.”

Plymouth sit 12th in the table and head into the fixture off the back of a 49-22 defeat at Darlington Mowden Park. But Williams knows Chinnor should expect nothing but a difficult contest.

“Plymouth away and Plymouth at home are two very different teams,” he said. “They will be expecting to win on home soil and will be particularly keen to win after last week’s result.”

Chinnor are boosted by the return of forwards, Jack Ramshaw (Achilles) and Joe Dancer (elbow). “Both boys are up for selection, which I’m really pleased about,” continued Williams. “We’ve not seen Jack Ramshaw yet this year; he was our stalwart forward enforcer last year. Joe Dancer was obviously player of the year and we’ve missed him badly since the start of the season. There’s not a better lineout technician than him in the league, so I’m looking forward to having them both in the mix.”

SATURDAY’S SQUADS
Chinnor (v Plymouth Albion, away): from Ashby, Dancer, Ehizode, Elder, George, Goss, Gray, Hodson, Kirwan, Laverick, Manning, Marley, May, McNulty, C Ryan, W Ryan, Ramshaw, Selway, Southworth, Treviranus, Watson, Worrall, Yawayawa.