RUGBY: Newbold and Lions at home tomorrow

Tomorrow Newbold are at home for the second week running in Midlands 1 East and will be looking forward to welcoming Wellingborough to Parkfield Road for a 2.15pm kick off. Sixth-placed Wellingborough are one of the few teams to have beaten Newbold, who are currently third, this season.

Old Laurentians have an important away game against Matlock, the side one place above them at the bottom of the table. Matlock provided OLs’ first win this season when visiting Fenley Field in October. The match is the proverbial ‘eight pointer’ as a win for OLs would put them just four points behind their rivals and set up an interesting climax to the season.

In Midlands 3 West (South) Rugby Lions host bottom club Pershore at Webb Ellis Road, kicking off at 2.15pm. Lions are in fourth place in a league incredibly tight at the top, with just two points between the top four teams.

Seventh-placed Rugby St Andrews travel to St Ives in Midlands 3 East (South). It provides the opportunity to make up some ground in the league as four of the sides above them are playing each other, but to do so they will have to overcome 11th-placed St Ives at the Chicken Shack, where Saints have had little success in the past.

The Bulls are in desperate need of points to avoid relegation and their big pack and close driving game will make life difficult for Saints, who need to refocus and rediscover their winning form.

Rugby Welsh, in Midlands 5 West (South) face another challenging weekend when they travel to Birmingham Exiles, hoping to gain revenge for a narrow defeat shortly before Christmas. Welsh are fourth in the table and Exiles just one point above them in third place, but having played two games more.