By Paul Smith 
Coventry boss Alex Rae is making no secret of what will confront his club’s round 15 Championship visitors Caldy at the Butts Park Arena on Saturday (3pm kick off).
The Wirral-based outfit pushed the Blue-and-Whites all the way to the final whistle when the clubs met at Paton Field in November before eventually succumbing to a Matt Kvesic-inspired 15-17 defeat.
Cov’s former England international flanker will be missing from the return fixture as he continues his recovery from a bicep injury, but according to their head coach whichever 23 players take the field will do so armed with an exciting, high-tempo game plan.
“Caldy are a part-time team whereas we are full-time so we need to put pace on the game and make it as uncomfortable for them as possible,” he says.
“It was a very close game at their place. We weren’t at our best that day but we found a way to win with Liam (Richman)’s boot getting us over the line at the end.
“In the past it’s been very different playing them at their place compared to on their travels. Nonetheless, based on that game and what they’ve done since we fully expect a tough game on Saturday.
“Credit to Caldy as they play good rugby in their way and we believe our best approach of beating that is to put tempo on the game at every opportunity.”
Speaking to BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, Rae said Cov are used to part-time sides arriving at the BPA’s immaculate artificial playing surface and setting out to prevent their hosts imposing a high-tempo game on them.
“If I was a coach in that situation I would do exactly the same,” he says. “Why would you let us play free-flowing rugby on a sunny day on a fast track?
“We all have to manage the game of rugby in our different ways based on the scenario facing us.
“If players go down now referees have to stop play due to all the regulations around head injuries. It is easy to get frustrated by it – especially when opposition players stop a lot for treatment and cause play to get very broken up.
“We’ve said to the players that every time an opponent is down taking a rest we should view it as a psychological positive for us rather than getting frustrated since it means we’re doing something right.”
Aaron Hinkley came on to Cov’s replacements’ bench at the last minute at Chinnor last weekend when Dan Okeke was injured in the warm-up and despite missing most of the previous week’s training went on to play a pivotal role in his club’s come-from-behind win.
Rae confirmed that the former Northampton flanker has played a full part in this week’s preparations and that Tiki Nayalo will also be available for selection against Caldy after playing for the British Army against their French counterparts last week.
He also advised that he expects those with “bumps and bruises” sustained at Kingsey Road to have recovered in time to face Caldy.
Tickets for Cov’s home game against Caldy on Saturday are available via this link: https://www.coventryrugby.co.uk/tickets/
