Saturday sees the visit of Newport who have had an impressive start to the season, on the back of promotion last year, as runaway champions of the Midland 1 West. In reality Newport have plenty of experience at Level 5 and have played there for a number of years, but have come unstuck on a couple of occasions were injuries and a limited squad depth, has seen them relegated, only to bounce straight back the following season. They will certainly visit Bradwall Road with great confidence, having comfortably beaten the previously unbeaten Peterborough Lions last weekend and have been scoring plenty of tries so far, this campaign. Newport traditionally have bolstered the home-grown talent pool with a few imports from overseas, using their connections with the locally based Rugby Agents. More recently they have also enticed players from a little closer to home, with notably the former Longton ace Hendry Vaka and the Crewe and Nantwich back row duo of Kirk Robinson and Oli Buckley also plying their trade there now.
Sandbach have had a decent spell of form themselves, having won the last three games on the spin and all with a try scoring bonus point. Further they are bolstered with a number of players returning from injury or available following work commitments, resulting in real competition for places and a number of high quality players not being able currently to make the 1st XV starting squad. Sandbach also have a decent record against the better sides in the league over the years, as evidenced last season with victories over both promoted teams. So, they certainly won’t be in awe in any way. Both teams like to play an expansive game, so expect lots of points and an entertaining battle.