Bedford name squad for penultimate fixture

Mike Rayer has named his squad as Bedford Blues contest their penultimate fixture of the Championship season with a trip to London Scottish this Saturday (KO 3pm).

Tomorrow’s game represents the first of two trips to London to conclude the 2023/24 campaign and Blues will be looking to springboard from their late heroics at Goldington Road last time out by taking momentum with them on the road.

Blues and Scottish have contested some memorable clashes over the years, including Rayer’s 500^th game in charge of Bedford back in April 2022, and another humdinger is expected with both sides looking to end the campaign on a strong note.

After the battling encounter with Doncaster last weekend, Rayer has chosen to shuffle his pack a little bit with four changes in total.

There is the now regular rotation of both prop jerseys as part of three forward alterations, with Jac Arthur coming in to the side in place of Alex Woolford. That brings a positional switch for Luke Frost, who will revert from blindside to feature in the second row against his former employers.

In the backs division, there is just one change with Toby Thame given a start at inside centre for just his second Blues appearance, and first in the Championship.

Among the replacements, Blues are able to call upon Craig Wright after recovering from the injury sustained helping England U20s win the Six Nations earlier this year.

Bedford Blues Starting XV: 15. Matt Worley, 14. Sean French, 13. Michael Le Bourgeois, 12. Toby Thame, 11. Dean Adamson, 10. Will Maisey, 9. Alex Day (C); 1. Joey Conway, 2. James Fish, 3. Bryan O’Connor, 4. Jordan Onojaife, 5. Luke Frost, 6. Jac Arthur, 7. Joe Howard, 8. Cameron King

Bedford Blues Replacements: 16. Craig Wright, 17. Jamie Jack, 18. Oisin Heffernan, 19. Robin Williams, 20. Kieran Curran, 21. James Lennon, 22. Louis Grimoldby, 23. Jamie Elliott