RFU Championship Preview: team by team

Bedford Blues
The shortening of the play-off format from a top eight to a top four will assist part-time outfit Bedford Blues’ quest for promotion this season, according to captain James Pritchard.
“It’s definitely better this way around for the fans because the teams will put their best team out each week,” he said.
“A lot of the boys are training at night after their jobs in the day and as there are less games it’s great for Bedford because we do feel it at the end of the season due to the size of our squad.
“This season we feel we can field a full-strength side week-in week-out.”
SQUAD: Neil Cochrane, Chris Locke, Scott Spurling, Phil Boulton, Ben Cooper, Darren Fearn, Ricky Reeves, Dan Seal, Mako Vunipola, Ben Gulliver, Mike Howard, George Kruis, Alex Rae, Paul Tupai, Tom Armes, Darren Fox, Gregor Gillanders, Sacha Harding, Don Barrell, Jackson Wray, Luke Baldwin, Ali Price, Darryl Veenendaal, Mark Atkinson, Jake Sharp, Brendan Burke, Henry Staff, Sam Stanley, Duncan Taylor, Ian Vass, Josh Bassett, Ollie Dodge, Mark Kohler, James Short, James Stephenson, James Pritchard, Ben Ransom.
Bristol
Bristol captain Ian Grieve admits coach Liam Middleton’s pursuit of ‘athletic excellence’ lay behind the squad overhaul with the likes of Dan Montagu departing.
“Dan’s a big lad and although he might not get any quicker he’s very skilful and he’s one of the best players I’ve played with,” he said.
“It’s not a case of getting rid of the fat guys and getting in the skinny guys, it’s not a case of that at all.
“It’s that we have tried to change our game by changing our squad to match the modern-day game.
“Players need to be quicker and stronger while the collisions aren’t getting any softer so players have to be bigger so that’s one of the reasons why Liam’s looked at athletic excellence.”
SQUAD: George Biagi, Callum Braley, Tom Channon, Will Davis, Bruce Douglas, Mitch Eadie, Ryan Edwards, Luke Eves, Alafoti Faosiliva, Jack Gadd, Ben Glynn, Jon Goodridge, Iain Grieve, James Grindal, Jason Hobson, Adrian Jarvis, Ross Johnston, Matthew Jones, Joe Joyce, Rhys Lawrence, Mark Lilley, Marco Mama, David McIlwaine, James Merriman, Fautua Otto, Redford Pennycook, Bryan Rennie, Tristan Roberts, Mariano Sambucetti, Tom Slater, Mike Tagicakibau, Wayne Thompson, Ruki Tipuna, Jack Tovey, Glen Townson, Kyle Traynor,Steve Uren, George Watkins, Matt Williams.
Cornish Pirates
Gavin Cattle feels that the high turnover of players at Cornish Pirates will make it difficult for them to replicate last season’s trip to the play-off final.
“We have been in the top four for the last three or four years and a lot of boys know what they to do but it is a highly competitive league this year,” said the Pirates skipper.
“We will aim for the play-offs. If we achieve that we will have done well considering the high player turnover we have had. I’m not saying we won’t do it but it is going to be a tough ask.”
SQUAD: Jonny Bentley, Tom Bedford, Gavin Cattle, Alex Cheeseman, Wes Davies, Matt Evans, Junior Fatialofa, Keiron Hallett, Sam Hill, Tom Kessell, Jack Nowell, Aaron Penberthy, Grant Pointer, Tom Riley, Paul Andrew, Darren Barry, Phil Burgess, Adam Clayton, Rob Elloway, Dave Ewers, Gary Johnson, David Lyons, Ben Maidment, Kyle Marriott, Laurie McGlone, Chris Morgan, Alan Paver, Ben Prescott, Darren Semmens, Ryan Storer.
Doncaster
Doncaster director of rugby Brett Davey has expanded his first-team squad by three this season and he’s convinced the Knights will now be able to hang tough should injuries strike.
“Last year we only had a squad of 29 players so when we had long-term injuries we didn’t have the squad,” said Davey.
“Our finances are slightly better this year so we have managed to get a few more players in. We were sitting in the top four for a long part last season but we dropped down to eighth by the end.
“We have got 32 players this year, three are part-time and three are development players so the play-offs is our aim again but we are still fighting against squads with bigger budgets.”
SQUAD: Andy Brown, Tom Davies, Tomas Francis, Brian McGovern, Adam Tamanis, Rhys Buckley, Jerry Cronin, Ali Thomson, Ben Sowery, Matt Challinor, Dom Parsons, Royce Cadman, Phil Hoy, Andy Boyde, Sam Pailor, Adam Kettle, Jethro Rawling, David Bradford, Chris Planchant, Chris Hallam, James Munro, Louis Silver, Jamie Lennard, Tom Barrett, Tom Luke, Will Simpson, Dante Mama, James Tincknell, Dougie Flockhart, Tyson Lewis, Dan Smith, Michael Keating.
Jersey
Coach Ben Harvey believes survival is the bare minimum for the newly promoted club this season.
“I’m not setting targets but at the bare minimum we want to stay in the league,” he said.
“I think it’s sustainable as a club in terms of rugby but also as a business.
“Huge credit goes to the lads that have been involved because at the end of the day they are the ones who have got us here.
“I have no reason to see why they can’t go on to do bigger and better things again.”
SQUAD: Rob Anderson, Richard  Barrington, Graham  Bell, Dai  Bishop, Steve  Boden, Jon  Brennan, Ross  Broadfoot, Glenn  Bryce, Charlie  Clyde-Smith, Tom  Cooper, James  Copsey, Ed  Dawson, Joel  Dudley, Ben  Evans, David  Felton, James  Gethings, Nick  Griffiths, Nathan  Hannay, Myles  Landick, Kingsley  Lang, Michael  Le Bourgeois, Chris  Levesley, Dave  Markham, Sean   McCarthy, Dave  McCormack, Eoghan  Nihill, Brendan  O’Brien, Paul  Rogers, Donovan  Sanders, Fred   Silcock, Guy  Thompson, Nick  Trower, Talite  Vaioleti, James  Voss.
Leeds
New Leeds Carnegie captain Jacob Rowan wants to repay the faith of his boyhood club by building on Yorkshire‘s Olympic success and leading his side to promotion.
“It’s a huge honour to be named captain as I’ve been here since I was 14,” he said.
“We always set our sights really high. A Premiership rugby club would be great for the area and great for the county.
“There’s a real buzz around Yorkshire at the moment and it would be great to be part of that. At the moment it’s about building a core group of players and playing well.”
SQUAD: Joe Baker, Dom Barrow, Richard Beck, Fred Burdon, Ryan Burrows, Jamel Chisholm, David Doherty, James Doherty, Joe Ford, Scott Freer, Christian Georgiou, Oli Goss, Calum Green, Craig Hampson, Harry Hannan, Ben Harris, Dan Hemingway, Ben Hooper, Lee Imiolek, Sam Lockwood, Peter Lucock, Steve McColl, Mo Mustafa, Mike Myerscough, Phil Nielsen, Pearce Phillips, Jacob Rowan, Matt Smith, Mark Tampin, Damien Tussac, James Tyson, Chris Walker, Curtis Wilso.
London Scottish
London Scottish will be the only Championship side in the capital this year and skipper Lewis Calder is relishing that new-found status.
“There’s a new dimension to the league now because we’ve lost a couple of neighbours,” said flanker Calder.
“It’s a bit of a contrast to where we were last year because we had London Welsh and Esher here and although those fixtures were a lot easier in terms of travel, it’s great to welcome Jersey and Newcastle into the league and the fans will get some good away days.
“There’s a level of excitement which hasn’t been generated before.”
SQUAD: Marcus Bloomerg, Richard Bolt, Mark Bright, Josh Thomas Brown, Oli Brown, Lewis Calder, Alex Clarke, PJ Gildow, Phil Godman, Ollie Grove, Tyler Hotson, David Howells, Mark Irish, Alex Karonias, James Kellard, Adam Kwasnicki, Aaron Liffchak, Willie Lipp, Ben Lonerga, James Love, Alex MacKenzie, Dave McCall, Craig McGrath, Dan Mugford, Gerard Mullen, James Ngan, Colin Quigley, Andy Reay, Ross Samson, Tommy Spinks, Paul Spivey, Jamie Stevenson, Mitchell Tamiau, Jim Thompson, Ryan Western.
Moseley
Kevin Maggs is adamant this will be the year his Moseley side start to look like he wants them to as he begins his second year in charge.
“I think it always takes a while for a squad to start performing exactly in the way you had in mind,” he said.
“We are improving year on year and I’m happy with the way pre-season has gone – I think this is the best we have looked while I have been here.
“The league is more competitive than ever and I think we’re in great shape to improve on last year’s finish.”
SQUAD: Adam Caves, Craig Lea, Sam Wilkes, Chaz Meddick, Stefan Thorpe, Craig Voisey, Addison Lockley, Liam Mather, Mike Powell, Nigel Burrows, Matt Lowcock, Neil Mason, Ben Pons, Olly Robinson, Buster Lawrence, Ben Pienaar, Dave Brazier, Sam Brown, Ryan Glynn, Brad Davies, Glyn Hughes, Caolan Ryan, Charlie Hayter, Greg King, Brad Hunt, Simon Hunt, William Robinson, Anthony Carter, Ollie Thomas, Michael Ellery, George Warner, Kevin Maggs, Chris Bishay, David Bishop, Joe
Munro, Dan Sanderson, Jamie Hearn.
Newcastle
New head coach Dean Richards reckons Newcastle is well equipped to get promotion but is not underestimating the challenge awaiting his side.
“I think we have a much more balanced squad and we will be aiming to win every game,” he said. “That’s always the goal at whatever club I’m at.
“We will be aiming to finish top but every game will be a very, very difficult for us.
“As we are the side that has come down we will be everyone else’s cup final. We are under no illusions that everybody will be trying to beat us.”
SQUAD: Joe Graham, Michael Mayhew, George McGuigan, Matt Thompson, Rob Vickers, Jon Golding, James Hall, Grant Shiells, Oliver Tomaszczyk, Scott Wilson, Josh Beaumont, Carlo del Fava, James Hudson, Scott Macleod, Joe Robinson, Ally Hogg, Taiasina Tuifua, Will Welch, Mark Wilson, Richard Mayhew, Chris York, Rory Lawson, Jordi Pasqualin, Chris Pilgrim, Jimmy Gopperth, Joel Hodgson, Waisea Luveniyali, Alex Crockett, James Fitzpatrick, Jamie Helleur, Andrew Higgins, Tane Tu’ipulotu, Luke Fielden, Suka Hufanga, Rikki Sheriffe, Ryan Shortland, Alex Tait, Michael Tait, Tom Catterick, Greg Goosen.
Nottingham
Long-serving Nottingham full-back David Jackson has never seen the side in more competitive shape as the squad adjust to life under new head coach Martin Haag.
“Change is always a good thing – everyone is looking to impress,” he said.
“It’s not a huge upheaval because coaches like Ben Johnston and Neil Fowkes are still here, but the change is noticeable.
“Training has been great because everyone is vying for position like never before; new life has been breathed into a side which was already very competitive.
“Pre-season has been strong and I think we look even better than last season.”
SQUAD: Brent Wilson, David Jackson, James Arlidge, Dan Montagu, Joseph Duffey, Sean Romans, Finlay Barnham, Nic Rouse, Matt Parr, Tom Calladine, Michael Holford, Jack Bradford, Jack Cobden, Joe Cobden, Rupert Cooper, Rhys Crane, Phil Eggleshaw, Tim Streather, Andy Savage, Alex Shaw, Matt Shields, Ollie Taylor.
Plymouth
Plymouth Albion captain Sean-Michael Stephen says the big clubs should be wary of his side springing a few upsets this season after welcoming new faces to the club.
“Pre-season was encouraging; the new players have settled well and are raring to go,” he said.
“We’re not preparing for big results against us in any game, we’ve prepared really well and we feel we can be competitive against anyone in this league.
“Teams like Newcastle are strong and will obviously be very competitive but I don’t see why we can’t go into those games with everything we have and try and fight for some results.”
SQUAD: Tom Bowen, Aaron Carpenter, Beavon Armitage, Ben Rogers, Dan Lee, David Morton, Henry Slade, Herbie Stupple, Jack Andrew, Jamie Salter, Jonathan Vickers, Keni Fisilau, Louis Messer, Luke Cowan Dickie, Mark Manton, Paul Bailey, Paul Roberts, Paul Rowley, Rhodri McAtee, Ruari Cushion, Ryan Hopkins, Sam Matavesi, Samuel Hocking, Sean Michael Stephen, Tom Bowen, Wayne Sprangle.
Rotherham
Rotherham head coach Andre Bester maintains that stars will only be born at Clifton Lane this season if they are willing to shoulder a heavy work load.
“Last year we didn’t have any stars and we were one of the relegation favourites but we beat London Welsh away and scored four tries and put 40 points on Bedford Blues and we finished seventh,” said Bester.
“We will see the next generation of stars coming from this team but it’s important for me that they, and our performances, are more workmen like because it isn’t stars that make a team it’s a team that makes stars.”
SQUAD: Alex Rieder, Barney Maddison, Carl Kirwan, Dan Sanderson, Daniel Baines, Gareth Denman, Jamie Kilbane, Jan-Francois Bester, Latu Makaafi, Marshall Gadd, Michael Noone, Neale Patrick, Rory Pitman, Ross Davies, Shane Cahill, Simon Gardiner, Ted Stagg, Toby Freeman, Charlie Mulchrone, Eamonn Sheridan, Ed Styles, Fergus Mulchrone, Garry Law, James McKinney, Jimmy Williams, Joel Gill, Laurence Pearce, Lee Blackett, Mike Doneghan, Mike Whitehead, Palepoi Nonu, Peter Homan, Will Hurrell.