By Paul Smith 
by Paul Smith
Ryan Hutler retains the full back shirt in which he last weekend delivered such an impressive display against Nottingham for Coventry’s pivotal Premiership Rugby Cup pool B trip to Northampton tomorrow (Franklin’s Gardens, 2.45pm kick off).
The 27-year-old who is best known as a right winger was originally named to start Cov’s 70-point win over the Archers at outside centre. However, when Charlie Robson was struck down by illness on Friday night he made a further switch to no.15 from where he played a prominent role in a backline that shared nine of Cov’s 11 round-four tries.
Two of those scores came from centre Tom Hitchcock who received an eleventh-hour call-up to fill the midfield slot vacated by Hutler and as a result is again named to partner a third Nottingham try-scorer, Daf-Rhys Tiueti, in the centre.
With on-loan Exeter scrum-half Sam Maunder joining 21-point Tommy Mathews at half-back and hat-trick hero Jimmy Martin partnering David Opoku on the wing Blue-and-Whites’ head coach Alex Rae has opted for the same backline that did so much damage seven days ago.
Continuity is also the watchword in the pack where Rae and his coaching group keep the same starting eight that have appeared in all of Cov’s four outings since the turn of the year.
This means young tight-head Eliot Salt makes another front-row start alongside former Northampton loose-head Toby Trinder and skipper Jordon Poole.
The Franklin’s Gardens faithful also gets another look at a second former Saint in flanker Aaron Hinkley who is named alongside Tom Ball and Tiki Nayalo in Cov’s back row.
Fit-again Rhys Anstey provides bench support to second-rows James Tyas and Obi Nkwocha while replacement hooker Will Biggs is seeking to continue a hot streak that has brought him four tries in five games.
The now fully-recovered Robson is also named on the bench alongside fellow backs Josh Barton and Theo Mannion who made his seasonal bow last Saturday.
Cov’s boss who also has Northampton connections from the early stages of his playing career is keenly anticipating a contest which will play a big part in deciding which clubs progress to the quarter-finals in March.
“Northampton are a brilliant team who play a great style of rugby,” he said. “I don’t think it makes any difference who is there and who isn’t, they’re Premiership champions and have only lost a couple of home games in recent years which tells you what a formidable place it is to go and play.
“We’re really looking forward to testing ourselves against the best. We had a hard game against them in tough conditions in November when they showed us plenty of respect by selecting a strong team. I hope it’s the same again so we get a measure of where we’re at
“I started my career at Franklin’s Gardens and it’s a fantastic place for the lads to go and play on probably the best pitch in England in a proper rugby town that’s full of history.”
Coventry: Ryan Hutler; David Opoku, Tom Hitchcock, Daf-Rhys Tiueti, Jimmy Martin; Tommy Mathews, Sam Maunder; Toby Trinder, Jordon Poole, Eliot Salt; Obinna Nkwocha, James Tyas; Tom Ball, Aaron Hinkley, Senitiki Nayalo.
Replacements: Will Biggs, Jevaughn Warren, Vilikesa Nairau, Rhys Anstey, Dan Okeke, Josh Barton, Charlie Robson, Theo Mannion
Tickets for Cov’s home game in the cup against Leicester on Saturday February 15th can be purchased at https://www.coventryrugby.co.uk/tickets/matchday-tickets/
