EDF Energy Cup - : National Two pacemakers present stiff challenge

National Two pacemakers present stiff challenge

3 December 2007, 9:16 pm

By Jonathan McConnell

Manchester coach David Baldwin is looking forward to Saturday�s EDF Energy National Trophy Round Three tie against Caldy as a welcome break from the pressure of league action and a chance to give some of his fringe players an opportunity to stake a claim for regular inclusion in his lineup.

“We won’t be disrespectful to Caldy because we know this will be a Cup Final for them and they will be fired up to do well,” says the former Sale Sharks lock and current England Counties coach: “But it will be nice to put pressure of league rugby on one side for a weekend. It’s also an opportunity to move things around, rest a couple of players and give players who have been on the fringe of the senior side a chance to show what they can do.”

Manchester are sitting proudly at the top of National Division Two at the moment and effectively the top seeds in the tournament at the third round stage. They are three points clear of second-placed Otley after 12 matches and ‘on a roll’.

“If you’d offered me 49 points and a three-point lead at this stage of the season back in September I would happily have shaken hands on the deal immediately,” says Baldwin. “How have we done it? I think our fitness is a big part of it. Scott Pearson has done a great job with the conditioning and I reckon that if we’re not the fittest team in the division, we’re at least as fit as anybody.

“That has helped us to play a very wide, expansive game and that style has served us well. We don’t have a big pack, so we need to keep the ball moving and that’s how we’ve been playing.

“We’ve also done well with the way the new players have fitted in and I’ve been helped by having Steve Swindells back at the club to help with the back coaching.

“We had a bit of luck in some of the early games, but since then we’ve grown. Teams start to fear you and you grow in confidence. You then get into a winning habit where you win some games without playing at your best.”

While Caldy face a stern test in stepping up a division, Kendal face an even more daunting challenge when they visit Otley, who are in close order behind Manchester in National Two.

The Cumbrian side lead the challenge of the minnows from North One, although they will travel to Cross Green with plenty of self belief even though they are stepping up two divisions.

With an unbeaten run of 13 games behind them, the Mint Bridge men are in buoyant mood at the moment are keen to test themselves against National League opposition.

Hull are also stepping up a level when they entertain National Three North leaders Tynedale, while completing the challenge from Level 5 are Westoe, who will need to keep a close eye on wingman Frankie van Schalkwyk when they travel South. He has 13 tries to his credit already this season in helping Richmond to the top of London One.

Elsewhere in the EDF Energy sponsored knockout competitions, the weight of expectation is starting to tighten as clubs begin to see Twickenham on the horizon, now rather less the feint and distant possibility it was not so long ago.

EDF Energy National Trophy, third round draw: Cambridge v London Scottish, Havant v Nuneaton, Hull v Tynedale, Hull Ionians v Wharfedale, Macclesfield v Henley, Manchester v Caldy, Old Patesians v Blaydon, Otley v Kendal, Paignton v Blackheath, Preston Grasshoppers v Lydney, Redruth v Stourbridge, Richmond v Westoe, Southend v Mounts Bay, Waterloo v Ealing, Westcombe Park v Halifax, Worthing v Rosslyn Park.