Tactical awareness key for both Rotherham Titans and Yorkshire Carnegie

THE need to show his squad have learned from previous misdemeanours will be uppermost in Bryan Redpath's mind as Yorkshire Carnegie host top-four rivals Bedford Blues tomorrow.
Yorkshire Carnegie head coach Bryan RedpathYorkshire Carnegie head coach Bryan Redpath
Yorkshire Carnegie head coach Bryan Redpath

The last time they met at Goldington Road in November, Carnegie lost 22-21 with the final kick of the game despite, at one point, having led their hosts 21-0.

It was the sort of narrow defeat that has hampered the club’s progress this term and prevented them from mounting a sustained challenge on leaders Bristol.

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With just four games remaining before the play-offs begin, Redpath admitted: “There has been a little bit of talk about that game.

“We had some part to play in that defeat and I personally did think the officials didn’t have great games either.

“But we had some decisions within the match that I felt cost us that day.

“There was two exit kicks and two decisions when to go for goal and line-outs – they were the big ones.

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“We need to focus on ourselves now, play at that tempo required and with the control needed to beat Bedford.

“They are equal on points with us in the league and rightly so; they have lost fewer games than us. We’re not underdogs but we don’t have the right to think we can win a game.”

At the other end of the table, Rotherham Titans could, theoretically, confirm their Championship status for 
2016-17 if they can defeat visitors Nottingham this afternoon.

Head coach Justin Burnell has made six changes to his starting line-up with, most noticeably, on-loan London Welsh fly-half Will Robinson replacing Will Goodwin.

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Winger Jack Hayes and centre Jordan Davies also get the nod and the coach said: “We were bitterly disappointed with how things went in our last game at Welsh.

“We had opportunities but we didn’t take them and you can’t afford to do that against a side like Welsh. There were times in the game where we lacked in our preciseness and decision-making and that was the disappointing thing for me.

“We’ll not be able to make those errors against Nottingham, because if we do they’ll punish us badly.”