Hodge to make first Blues start at Carnegie

It’s been a Jekyll and Hyde couple of weeks for the Blues who put in a huge performance to pick up a bonus point win at London Welsh a fortnight ago before relinquishing a 10 point lead to lose 13-10 at home to London Scottish last weekend.

Heading into tonight’s encounter with second placed Yorkshire Carnegie, the Blues make five changes to their starting line-up with Matt Gallagher, George Perkins and Jake Sharp starting in the backs while Camilo Parilli-Ocampo gets the nod at loosehead prop.

Byron Hodge makes his first start in a Bedford jersey as he replaces Mike Howard who picked up a shoulder injury during last week’s defeat to London Scottish.

Blues: 15. Matt Gallagher; 14. George Perkins; 13. Michael LeBourgeois (c); 12. Tom Griffiths; 11. Dean Adamson; 10. Jake Sharp; 9. Tom Whiteley; 1. Camilo Parilli-Ocampo; 2. Jacob Fields; 3. Christian Judge; 4. Will Carrick-Smith; 5. Byron Hodge; 6. Ed Taylor; 7. Josh Buggea; 8. Ben Adams.

Replacements: 16. Dan George; 17. Jack Culverhouse; 18. Billy Walker; 19. Paul Tupai; 20. Jason Hill; 21. Jordan Burns; 22. Myles Dorrian.