By Paul Smith 
One of the oldest rivalries in English rugby will be renewed next month when Coventry Rugby host Birmingham Moseley in a pre-season friendly.
Adam Balding brings his squad to the Butts Park Arena on Saturday August 24th (3pm kick off) for a contest which launches Cov’s 2024/25 campaign.
The blue-and-whites’ local rivals, who finished fifth in National One last season, could have a number of former Cov favourites in their squad.
These include prop David Langley, Sam and Isaac McNulty and perhaps most notably experienced lock Adam Peters who played 90 times for the Butts Park Arena club immediately prior to spending last season in France.
Since 1946/47 there have been 124 meetings between the clubs. Cov lead the series 70-47 with seven draws plus one abandoned game. The last league clashes which came in 2017/18 during Cov’s National One promotion campaign, resulted in a blue-and-white double to the tune of 50-11 and 41-17.
Cov head coach Alex Rae said the match will be an ideal first test for his squad.
“Moseley are a really famous rival of Coventry’s over the years,” he said.
“When we’ve played pre-season friendlies in recent times it’s always been a really good, tough fixture for us and for them.
“We will probably look to play our whole squad and give everyone a run out as it’s early in our pre-season schedule and I’m sure the lads will really enjoy the fixture.”
Cov’s second pre-season game against Chinnor takes place under the BPA lights on Friday September 13th (7.30pm kick off).
The Oxfordshire-based club finished four places above Moseley last term and as a result will make a return to Coventry with league points at stake later in the season following their promotion to English rugby’s second tier.
In an extremely successful 2023/24 campaign, Nick Easter’s club lost only four of their 26 league games to clinch the National One title by a convincing 13-point margin.
In stark contrast to their opening game, a first-ever meeting with Chinnor enables Cov club historian John Butler to open a new chapter in the club’s 151-year history.
Rae is already looking ahead to this inaugural meeting with his club’s upwardly-mobile league rivals.
“Chinnor had a brilliant season last year getting promoted and they seem to be a well-supported and well-coached club,” he said.
“In addition to former England no.8 Nick Easter they’ve got Craig Hampson who plays for Ealing as one of their coaches so they will be well organised and using the fixture to see where they’re at heading into the league campaign.
“It’s always good to have a game on a Friday night and with both games included in the season memberships so hopefully we’ll get a good crowd and everyone will enjoy
meeting the players after the game, getting to know the new lads and seeing the old faces again.”
For those who are not season members plus visiting supporters from Moseley and Chinnor tickets can be purchased in advance via the link below.
Pre-season friendlies at the Butts Park Arena:
August 24th (3pm kick off) Coventry Rugby v Birmingham Moseley
September 13th (7.30pm kick off) Coventry Rugby v Chinnor
Tickets are available via this link: https://www.coventryrugby.co.uk/tickets/
Season memberships via this link: https://www.coventryrugby.co.uk/membership/
