Blues head North hoping to ‘restore some pride’
Bedford Blues head shots 2011-12. wk 34.
FOLLOWING a much-appreciated weekend off, Bedford Blues return to action on Sunday afternoon for a mouth-watering encounter against Leeds at Headingley.
The Blues sit second in the Championship but, with just a single point separating them from London Welsh and Cornish Pirates, Bedford know that they will have to be at their best to remain in the same spot following the 19th round fixtures.
Bedford welcome back number eight Jonathon Fisher back to the squad after his lay-off with a fracture to the foot, but the game has come a little too soon for new signings Ben Cooper and Darren Fox who joined from Cambridge earlier in the week.
Winger Handre Schmidt (knee) and flanker Sacha Harding (neck) are the main injury absentees, but Bedford will also be without Billy Johnson who has joined Premiership champions Saracens on a short-term loan deal.
Looking ahead to the game, Blues team manager Rob Crowle said: “It is certainly a long journey to make on a Sunday, but we are looking forward to the game and the opportunity to restore some pride following the defeat we suffered to Leeds back in October.
“We know that we under-performed on that occasion and we have the chance to put that right this weekend.
“The extra weekend has certainly been beneficial and the lads look to be in fantastic shape and have certainly been throwing themselves into training over the past fortnight.
“The boys have had the chance to recuperate a little while longer and welcoming Jon Fisher back is a real boost as is the introduction of Ben and Darren to the squad.
“It appears that everyone is on a high and raring to go but it won’t mean a great deal if we don’t put in the work on Sunday.
“It’s going to be tough but if we perform to the standard that we know we can, then we are in with a shot.”
Blues: 1 Sam Walsh, 2 Neil Cochrane, 3 Phil Boulton, 4 Mike Howard, 5 Sean Tomes, 6 Gregor Gillanders, 7 Alex Rae, 8 Paul Tupai, 9 Stefan Liebenberg, 10 Jake Sharp, 11 Josh Bassett, 12 Ian Vass, 13 Brendan Burke, 14 Mark Kohler, 15 James Pritchard (C). Replacements: 16 Chris Locke, 17 Nico Steenkamp, 18 Jonathon Fisher, 19 Don Barrell, 20 Darryl Veenendaal, 21 Jamie Lennard, 22 Ollie Dodge.
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Weather for Bedford
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South west
