EDF Trophy Quarter Final Clash

Doncaster Knights v Exeter Chiefs

Exeter enter the quarter final stage of the EDF Trophy with what is probably the toughest fixture of the round, away to Doncaster Knights at Castle Park. Whilst Exeter have played Doncaster 5 times in the last 3 league seasons, won 4 and lost 1, there has not been much between them. Doncaster always prove to be a tough nut to crack. The Knights have the same high hopes as the Chiefs, to achieve the top flight of rugby in the near future, and have spent money on improving their facilities as well as their squad. With their brand new De Mulder Lloyd stand on show, they are keen to encourage new interest in their club, in an area crammed with well known quality rugby clubs of both codes, a task which will require the Knights to produce excellent shows of rugby on the pitch and commercial acumen off. 

The Knights have not faired that well in the National cup competitions in recent years, having only not progressed past the 5^th round, having been dispatched by Redruth, Cornish Pirates, and Northampton in the last 3 competitions. This year the Knights meet Exeter at Castle Park having seen off our old foes Plymouth Albion in the 4^th round and Sedgley Park in the 5^th.In National 1 they have been up around the top 4 position for most of the season and have recently put in some strong performances to cement their 4^th position. 

The Chiefs arrive having set a club record 115 – 0 against the Preston Grasshoppers, before narrowly beating Bedford yet again in a nail biting 5^th round, the thickness of the paint on the cross bar being all that separated them. In the league they arrive having put in a couple of fairly lack lustre performances, having not played really well since Christmas when they strung together some stirling efforts to narrowly lose to Leeds and then to beat the Pirates, Bedford and Albion. A full 80 minute performance will be required this week to get a step closer to making it 4 finals out of 5, and the vision of finally bringing home the silver from Twickenham, in the final year of the EDF trophy in its current form. 

With the 3 Golden Boys away preparing for the England Rugby 7’s World Cup, Pete will expect the boys to concentrate solely on the match in hand, they will need to put out of their minds who they might meet in the semi final, or even the final, where they will be playing next season, or any other distraction that might be on the horizon. Without maximum effort, belief and maximum team effort, this potentially close match could go the wrong way. All that said, I firmly believe we will be waiting on Monday to hear who we will be facing in the semi finals: will it be Leeds, London Welsh or Nottingham? Only time will tell. 

Bring on the Cow Pie!! 

My prediction: Doncaster Knights 17 – 26 Exeter Chiefs

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