Beez are buzzing for crucial game

Sep 19 2008 by Ken Montgomery, Birmingham Mail

RUGBY

BIRMINGHAM & Solihull coach Russell Earnshaw will have no difficulty motivating his players for tomorrow’s National Two match-of-the-day against Cambridge at Grantchester Road.

In fact, the only difficulty Earnshaw has had in the build-up is to calm the excitement of his squad ahead of a game that could well go a long way towards deciding the league title in April.

“Cambridge are an ambitious club just as we are so that makes it a big game,” Earnshaw said. “I’m excited about the game and so are my players.

“In fact they were so excited about the prospect of playing in the game that we had to cut short our training session.

“I think that’s a good sign.

“It shows that they appreciate the significance of the game and we have built a squad that includes a lot of players who enjoy playing in big games and who show their enthusiasm in the build-up.

“I would rather us get our nerves and excitement out of the way now rather than on the day.”

Having bounced back from a poor opening-day performance at Redruth with an emphatic win over Stourbridge in an entertaining West Midlands derby last week, Earnshaw is expected to name an unchanged starting line-up for the Bees’ first-ever trip to Cambridge.

The only likley change is on the bench, where Ricky Davies is set to replace Andy Lawrence.

“We still had a debate about a couple of positions but, all in all, we did some decent stuff against Stourbridge so we won’t be making too many changes,” Earnshaw said.

Cambridge, like the Bees, have invested heavily in their squad during the close season and their new recruits include former Bees lock Rob Hurrell, who has been signed from Henley, and Darren Fox, who has dropped down from Premiership side Northampton.

“They have recruited strongly just as we have, they want to win promotion just as we do and we can’t wait for Saturday,” Earnshaw said.