Henley Hawks vs London Welsh - Saturday, April 18th, kick-off 3pm

By Alistair Beynon

It doesn’t get much bigger for Henley Hawks as they welcome London Welsh to Dry Leas for their last home league game of the season. On the back of an encouraging performance in defeat to table toppers Bury St. Edmunds last weekend, Luke Allen’s side are fully aware of how high the stakes have become going into this game. Realistically, only a victory will suffice, and they will also have one eye on results elsewhere, with both Esher and Sevenoaks also desperate for victories in their own bids to retain their National 2 East statuses.

Henley travelled to Richmond to face London Welsh back in December, and were holding onto a narrow lead heading into the final throes of the contest. However, a late try for the home side was a bitter pill to swallow for the Hawks, as they were ultimately edged out 36-32. Welsh are in tenth place, just eight points ahead of Henley in twelfth, and are not mathematically safe just yet. So this adds another interesting dynamic to an already intriguing fixture.

There is no doubt that Henley have been a different side since Christmas, and are playing with a higher level of intensity and physicality than earlier in the season. However, the table doesn’t lie and realistically, the Hawks will need two five-point victories and hope that Esher slip up against either Canterbury or at Sevenoaks. If that doesn’t happen, then the likelihood is that Allen and his coaches could well be preparing for a play-off fixture against one of London Scottish Lions, Tunbridge Wells, Letchworth Garden City or HUEL Tring. This game would take place at Dry Leas on Saturday, May 9th. However, there will undoubtedly be many twists and turns still to come between now and the end of the season.

In terms of team news, the Hawks picked up a few knocks against Bury on Saturday, with both George Wood and Lailand Gordon ruled out. In the pack, Louis Bailey comes in at loosehead prop with Moses Fakatou switching to tighthead. Elsewhere, there is a welcome return for Fin Basil who comes into the starting XV at openside flanker. In the backs, Allen will also be pleased to see both Callum Jones and Seb Scott returning from injury as they take their places at outside centre and left wing respectively.

The provisional Henley Hawks side to face London Welsh is as follows:

  1. Louis Bailey, 2. Spencer Hayhow ©, 3. Moses Fakatou, 4. Ben Elsey, 5. Sam Lunnon, 6. Max Brown, 7. Fin Basil, 8. Will Benning, 9. Leo Webb, 10. Ollie Snook, 11. Seb Scott, 12. Jimmy Leach, 13. Callum Jones, 14. Oscar Busby, 15. Toby Howe

Replacements: 16. Nelly Kinniburgh, 17. Charlie Sichel, 18. Scott White, 19. Tom Cunningham, 20. Oskar White

Elsewhere this weekend, the 2nd XV continue their push for promotion when they welcome Buckingham to Dry Leas on Saturday, kick-off on the Riverside pitches is 2pm.

Pre-match lunch is now sold out, but match tickets can be purchased by clicking on this link.