Doncaster Knights v Richmond: Steve Boden makes changes as Knights need ‘wake-up call’

The South Yorkshire club could move up as high as fourth in the Championship if they secure a third successive win today.

However, Boden was unimpressed with large parts of last week’s last-minute victory at Ampthill and has made seven changes to his starting XV.

Winger Maliq Holden and centre Joe Margetts will debut, full-back Billy McBryde and centre Mark Best are recalled while prop Andrew Foster, blindside Sam Hudson and No 8 John Kelly are all brought in up front.

Gaz Denman, Jack Davies, Guido Volpi, Kyle Evans and Fraser Strachan all drop to the bench while Harry Davey is absent from the matchday squad completely.

Boden said: “We need to get back on the horse. While we got the win at the weekend, it wasn’t a good enough performance.

“We’re fully aware of that. We need to get back to playing some decent stuff. We did against Bedford and Jersey but if we play like we did at Ampthill it won’t provide us with consistent results.

“We’ve got a squad and it needs to be used. At the end of the day, if you don’t perform, you’ll be left out. There’s some guys in there who have had more than one chance to perform and I don’t think they’re performing well enough to keep the shirts.

“That’s how I’ll continually run it. I like to think the club is based on you having to give 100 per cent every time you put the shirt on.

“There’s some guys who need a little bit of a wake-up call after last week. If you don’t (perform), then somebody will; some individuals have had to pay the price.”

Richmond have won three of their six games but lost 26-20 at home to Jersey Reds last week.

Boden added: “They throw the ball about and play with a lot of freedom, so it’s about us putting our own game on them and trying to contain some of their flamboyance.

“Defensively we need to be big, But we’re excited about being at home in front of our own fans.”