Bedford Blues v Coventry Rugby: Championship round 13 team news

[caption id="attachment_8180" align="alignnone" width="497"] Scott Tolmie wears Cov's No.2 shirt against Bedford tomorrow[/caption]

After claiming two tries in the second half of last Saturday’s thrilling 18-17 home win over Cornish Pirates, hooker Scott Tolmie will be seen from the first whistle of Coventry Rugby’s round 13 Greene King IPA Championship visit to Bedford Blues tomorrow (Goldington Road, 3pm).

His switch of starting and bench roles with Darren Dawidiuk is the only change the Blue-and-Whites’ coaching group make to the forwards named in their matchday 23.

Former Bedford prop Phil Boulton again captains the side from the tight head, while another ex-Blue, scrum half Pete White, is also named to start the Midlands derby.

White is partnered at half-back for the first time this season by Tony Fenner, whose previous 17 outings have come at centre or full back.

His inside move allows Heath Stevens and Rob Knox to form a powerful midfield pairing, while in the absence of the injured James Stokes the Bulumakau brothers join David Halaifonua in a back three with a strong Pacific Islands flavour.

Will Maisey joins Dawidiuk and five of the players who made such an impact on last week’s second half on the bench as Cov return to a venue they originally visited around 130 years ago for the first time since 2009/10.

Coventry Rugby:

1. James Gibbons

2. Scott Tolmie

3. Phil Boulton ©

4. Tom Jubb

5. George Oram

6. Dan Faleafa

7. Ben Nutley

8. Adam Peters

9. Pete White

10. Tony Fenner

11. Junior Bulumakau

12. Heath Stevens

13. Rob Knox

14. Andy Bulumakau

15. David Halaifonua

Replacements:

16. Darren Dawidiuk

17. Charlie Beech

18. Josh McNulty

19. Ben Adams

20. Latu Makaafi

21. Tom Kessell

22. Will Maisey

 Head coach Nick Walshe said:

“We don’t need to change too much – we just need to ensure we do what we did last week better.

“We know we will have to defend well, as Bedford traditionally throw everything at away teams at Goldington Road and look to score tries.

“We also need to make sure we play in the right areas of the field and keep our attack going with ball in hand.

“I’m sure we will have plenty of support from the Cov faithful and we are really looking forward to the challenge.”

Watch Nick speak to BBC C&W's Alec Blackman about tomorrow's match below:

https://youtu.be/PfoCUotsp3k

To view all Coventry Rugby's video content subscribe to You Tube channel Coventry Rugby 1874.

Advanced tickets are now available for the Coventry Rugby Development XV game against British Army ‘A’ on Tuesday January 29 (7.30pm kick off). Tickets which cost £5 for adults (under 16’s free) can be purchased from the Coventry Rugby ticket office on 02476 231001. Entry without an advanced ticket is also available on the gate. A Q&A with director of rugby Rowland Winter and some of his coaching team takes place beforehand in the Jon Sharp bar at 6pm.