Hawks name same side for Surrey relegation showdown

HENLEY Hawks will be aiming to build on their morale-boosting win against Oxford Harlequins last weekend when they travel to Surrey to take on Esher in another hotly anticipated National Division 2 East relegation clash tomorrow (Saturday). Kick-off at Molesey Road is 3pm.

Last week’s Hawks win, coupled with Esher’s loss at Barnes, means Henley are now just five points behind the Surrey side with everything to play for heading into the business end of the season.

Like Henley, Esher have had a season to forget having been relegated from National Division 1 at the end of last season, but have found life difficult adjusting to level four rugby.

Former England international fullback Mike Brown replaced Peter Winterbottom as director of rugby in a big shake-up of the coaching team, but despite an initial upturn in results, they have now lost five on the bounce leaving them nervously looking over their shoulder.

The two sides met at Dry Leas back in October where Henley put together their best performance of the season with an emphatic 47-12 victory. In terms of team news, Hawks’ director of rugby Luke Allen has no fresh injury concerns and is able to name the same starting line-up from last Saturday.

On the bench, George Wood is back in the match day squad and takes his place amongst the replacements after welcoming his second child into the world.

The provisional Henley Hawks side to face Esher is as follows: 1 Moses Fakatou, 2 Spencer Hayhow, 3 Luke Shpylka, 4 Ben Elsey, 5 Liam Goodison, 6 Max Brown, 7 Scott White, 8 Will Benning, 9 Leo Webb, 10 Max Titchener, 11. Lailand Gordon, 12 Jimmy Leach, 13 Callum Jones, 14 Oscar Busby, 15 Toby Howe. Replacements: 16 Beau Delaney, 17 Louis Bailey 18 Fin Basil, 19 Morgan Poiner, 20 George Wood.

Elsewhere tomorrow, Henley 2nds have a rest while Henley 3rds have withdrawn from their league due to lack of player availability. On Sunday Henley Hawks Women entertain Richmond, kick-off 2pm