RUGBY UNION: Oxford Harlequins head of rugby Alan Hancock expects tough derby clash at Witney

Quins beat the west Oxfordshire side by just a point in September and travel to Hailey Road for the South West 1 East clash having lost only once in nine games.

They make five changes, with George Primett taking over at hooker, Pete Alston moving to lock and Angus Milton starting at flanker.

Ralph Jones comes in at scrum half and Jack Robinson is on the right wing.

With Witney third and on a five-match winning run, Quins' head of rugby, Hancock, is looking forward to tomorrow's clash.

He said: "We are going to get into an arm wrestle.

"It will be quite physical and feisty – emotions will be quite high.

"They are going to want our scalp, we want theirs – I am looking forward to it."

He added: "Witney are doing everything right, pushing the right buttons, they have got a great community club there.

"I recognise it is going to be the hardest game of the season for us, as it is for them."

Witney are forced into two changes in the pack, with Sam Collins unavailable and George Lane injured, but are boosted by the return to fitness of Rich Haire.

Despite their good run of results, coach Richie Craig is calling for improvement.

He said: "This is a big week for us, we have been forced into a few changes.

"We are very aware of the strengths of Oxford who have had an up and down season."

Craig added: "We will be focussing on our own performance which we feel has not been at the standard we desire for the last two weeks.

"We are aiming to put together an 80-minute performance.

"If we do that we can walk off the pitch with our heads held high and hopefully with the result in our favour this time."

Centre Patrick Connors makes his debut as Grove host Newbury Blues.

Ben Nicholl and Nick Sevier return after being ruled out late last week.

In National League 1, Henley hand new loan signing Tom Bliss a start at scrum half against Ampthill.

With Conor Murphy away with London Irish and James Helliwell injured, Bliss has joined from Ealing.

Basil Strang starts at his preferred position of fly half, but in the pack they are without Tom West and Jake Willis, who are at an England U20 training camp.

Chinnor travel to Bishop's Stortford in National League 2 South and have provisionally named a squad of 22.

Daz Oliver faces a late fitness test, while they wait on the registration of new signings Santiago Sodini and Scott Gibson.

Director of rugby Matt Williams says he hopes his side can build on last week's positive defensive showing in the loss to Cambridge.

He said: "I was very proud of the boys last week.

"With 38 minutes on the clock it was 0-0 and everything (defence coach) Richard Thorpe and the coaching team have been putting into play in training was really working apart from a lapse of concentration for a period of seven minutes.

"So what the guys have got to do now is keep progressing on their defensive capabilities and realise you win by playing for 80 minutes and not 70."

TOMORROW’S TEAMS

Henley (v Ampthill, home): Davies, Andre, O’Neill, Allen, Randall, Strang, Bliss, Moss, Emery, Manning, Clements, Davey, Hall, Bell, Hirskyj-Douglas. Reps: Sandys, Langdon, Payne, Watkins, Palmer.

Chinnor (v Bishop's Stortford, away): from Berry, Tyack, Townsend, M Darlington, Burns, Sodini, Manning, Vandermolen, Oliver, Messum, Waddingham, Bolwell, Goodfellow, Jones, Hopkin, Fatialofa, Lloret, Adams, Lamont, Gibson, Heath, Beer.

Witney (v Oxford Harlequins, home): Lewis, Fisk, Godfrey, Clarke, Morgan, Lamb, G Campbell, Richardson, Harris, Richens, Webb, Mortimer, Haire, C Campbell, Bennett. Reps: Fuller, Muller, Dyde.

Oxford Harlequins (v Witney, away): Yeats, Robinson, Crowe, Fisilau, Poulet, Watkinson, Jones, Sharpe, Primett, Boulton, Neal, Alston, Milton, Battson, Latu. Reps (from): Dimond, Ward, Avery, Farahani, Kelly.

Grove (v Newbury Blues, home): N Sevier, J Chilvers, Allen, Connors, White, Crapper, Cramp, Eckert (capt), Wiltshire, Walsh, Miles, Gratwohl, Law, Wells, B Nicholl. Reps: Dixey, Peel, Maryon.