Hoppers head to Dore Moor this Saturday to take on Sheffield Tigers looking to complete a double after beating the Yorkshire side 38-33 back in October.
The Tigers sit just one place and 9 points above the relegation zone so will be looking to use home advantage to keep the sides in the drop zone at bay. Hoppers’ win on Saturday means there is a more comfortable 18 point buffer to the relegation zone with both sides having nine games to play.
Hoppers supporters would have been disappointed to see stalwart prop Oga Mabaya stretchered off last weekend with a suspected achilles tendon injury. Sadly Oga faces a long lay off but was in good spirits this week and will no doubt be putting the long hours in to get back on the pitch soon. ‘Work hard, keep pushing’ Oga, we’ll see you on the pitch again soon.
We only have a short history of meetings with our visitors and senior Sheffield side from Dore Moor which all began after their promotion to Level 4 rugby in 2011. The Tigers were relegated after three seasons at this level but bounced back in 2016 and have now consolidated and are enjoying their second spell and in total sixth season in National 2 North.
The two clubs have met nine times since the Yorkshire side elevated themselves to this level in the league pyramid with Hoppers winning five and Sheffield four. Those who travelled over to Yorkshire in 2017 (during the relegation season) for that game won’t forget witnessing one of the worst performances by a Hoppers side when they were ‘nilled’ by the Tigers. Out of the twenty players who played in that game, only a quarter are still actively involved at First XV level for Hoppers and it’s pleasing to say that they help form the strong nucleus of the current squad of forwards.
Team News
Injury to Oga Mabaya means Noah Miller makes his first start in an otherwise unchanged lineup from last time out. The bench sees Tyler Sloane step up from the 2nd XV as a front row replacement.
1. Noah MILLER
2. PJ MILLEA (C)
3. Peter ALTHAM
4. Adam HOWARD
5. Ryan CARLSON
6. Ally MURRAY
7. Teddy LEATHERBARROW
8. Matt LAMPREY
9. James GOUGH
10. Thomas DAVIDSON
11. Scott JORDAN
12. James FITZPATRICK
13. Alex HURST
14. Tyler SPENCE
15. Nathan POPE
16. Oli TRIPPIER
17. Tyler SLOANE
18. Luke PROCTER
19. Conor TRUEMAN
20. Sam STOTT
