1st XV News

Bedford Blues will be making the trip to Sixways on Friday evening to face Worcester Warriors in Round Six of the Greene King IPA Championship and no doubt memories of their last visit will be firmly in everyone's mind.
 
The Blues were minutes away from causing a major upset in the 2011 Championship semi-final when they led the Warriors – who had stormed their way through the league that season -16-22 but a late Kai Horsmann try was to break Bedford hearts when it was converted by Joe Carlisle.
 

Bedford Blues are pleased to confirm the signing of Academy scrum half Kieran Duffin until the end of the season.
 
Duffin, 19, joined the Blues Academy from Wasps at the end of the 2012/13 season and firmly established himself in the Academy squad where he captained the team on several occasions during the campaign. Kieran's hard work paid off as he caught the eye of Bedford Director of Rugby, Mike Rayer, over the summer months when he trained with the senior squad.
 

With just three days to go until Bedford Blues’ annual firework extravaganza this Friday 7th November, tickets are now available to purchase from the Club Shop at Goldington Road for the rest of this week between 10am-4pm.

Gates and bars open on Friday for the Fireworks Display and Funfair at 6pm, leaving plenty of time to take a wander around the ground and soak up the family atmosphere at this traditional town event before the first display starts at 7pm. The children’s display is the perfect winter warmer for kids of all ages, ahead of the main event.

Martin Haag insists his Championship XV showed off the league's quality after they battled back from behind at Sixways to clinch a thrilling 28-23 victory against international opposition in Canada.

The Championship first combined to take on the Maori All Blacks in 2012 and while that match ended in a 52-21 defeat, this game was anything but one-sided.

Kyle Gilmour and Gordon McRorie tries gave the Canadians the advantage in the first half, though London Scottish's Mark Bright did trundle through for the hosts.

Championship XV coaches Martin Haag and Kevin Maggs have confirmed their starting line-up ahead of Sunday's fixture against Canada at Sixways Stadium, kick-off 3.15pm, with Blues captain Nick Fenton-Wells starting against former captain James Pritchard.

In the backline Moseley Rugby find strong centre representation in Will Owen and Greg King, flanked by Rotherham's Michael Keating and Miles Mantella of London Scottish on the wings. Jack Tovey starts at full-back, while Lawrence Rayner is selected at fly-half. Tom Kessell completes the backs at scrum-half.

The RFU and Worcester Warriors will launch a Flash Sale on Wednesday morning from 8am to Thursday evening at 5pm for all supporters to purchase tickets for this Sunday’s  Championship XV v Canada match at Sixways for just £7.50 via the club website.

The Championship XV concept will be reignited following its 2012 success against the Maori All Blacks. The best English qualified XV from across the league will face Canada in a showpiece game highlighting the talent on offer in the second tier, providing a unique international experience for players and spectators alike.

Bedford Blues would like to thank everyone who was involved and attended Ladies Day 2014 at Goldington Road last week in helping make it another memorable occasion and raising £3,792.14 for Cancer Research UK.

The 2,425 people through the gates particularly helped make last Saturday a huge success in supporting such a great cause through donation, beauty treatments, hospitality, raffles and another great auction with our MC Sam Roberts.

A strong second half performance wasn’t enough for Bedford Blues as they lost 36-20 in the British and Irish Cup at pool four leaders Doncaster Knights on Saturday afternoon, writes Ryan Lewis of the Bedford Times & Citizen.

The defeat leaves Bedford nine points adrift of Doncaster, who have a maximum of 15 points in the pool and look favourites to qualify for the quarter-finals.

The Blues made a number of changes off the back of the last minute defeat to Cross Keys last week, with only eight players retaining their place in the starting XV and in contrast to last week’s strong start, it was Bedford’s turn to fall behind early on.

Bedford Blues will be making the most of their squad when they travel north to face unbeaten Doncaster Knights in the British & Irish Cup at Castle Park on Saturday afternoon.

The cup competition has been a mixed bag for the Blues having been awarded a bonus point win against the Cornish Pirates in the opening round despite losing the game 35-34. The Pirates were found to have broken the regulations concerning front row replacements meaning that the result ahead of the breach was reverted to*.

Following Bedford Blues home defeat last Saturday, Director of Rugby, Mike Rayer is looking for a response from his players this weekend against Doncaster Knights in what promises to be a challenging test against the pool leaders.

Bedford lost out to Cross Keys in their first home match of the British and Irish Cup last Saturday after a fast-paced first quarter left them 19-3 up, but a strong second half fight-back from the Welshmen saw them claim a last minute try to clinch victory.