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TEAM NEWS | Squad named for Boxing Day
Mike Rayer has named his team as Bedford Blues prepare to bring the curtain down on 2025 by hosting Richmond in-front of a sellout Goldington Road on Boxing Day (KO 3pm).
A fixture with over 90 years’ worth of history, Blues will be hoping to level the series on matchday, currently trailing 38 victories to 37 following a tough run of form against the Londoners in recent years.
After the bruising encounter with Worcester last weekend, Rayer makes four changes to his Starting XV, brought about through a mixture of rotation and injury concern.
In the forwards pack, Tommy Herman, Ilan Evans and Nicholas Finch all come back in; while Ryan Hutler is the solitary change in the backs division.
In total, 16 of the matchday squad will experience Boxing Day rugby at Goldington Road for the first time, with this the first instalment of the calendar favourite since 2022.
Bedford Blues Starting XV:
15. Louis James, 14. Ryan Hutler, 13. Lucas Titherington, 12. Michael Le Bourgeois, 11. Dean Adamson, 10. Will Maisey, 9. Alex Day (C); 1. Joey Conway, 2. Tommy Herman, 3. Oisin Heffernan, 4. Rory Ward, 5. Ilan Evans, 6. Fred Tuilagi, 7. Nicholas Finch, 8. Tui Uru
Bedford Blues Replacements:
16. James Fish, 17. Jamie Jack, 18. Sonny Tonga’uiha, 19. Archie Appleby, 20. Kayde Sylvester, 21. Jonny Weimann, 22. Tom Price, 23. Billy Pasco
Unavailable for selection this week:
Alex Woolford, Archie Hosking, Rafe Witheat, George Worth
