Ritchie Hawkyard will hope to follow his outstanding debut for Huddersfield YMCA by guiding them to victory against high-riding Sandal at Milnthorpe Green on Saturday.
The Wakefield club are third in the National III North table after a 51-0 victory at second-bottom Beverley last weekend, but YMCA are buoyant from their first win of the campaign against derby rivals Cleckheaton.
Mark Whitehead’s side defeated Cleck 31-24 with the help of two tries from Swinton Lions rugby league player Hawkyard, who also set up another try for Gavin Stead from the fly-half slot.
The 28-year-old gets the No10 jersey again for only the second appearance of his life in rugby union, while Chris Clarke (who played at 10 against league leaders Sale, when YM lost by only two points) is on the bench.
“There is no reason at all why we can’t go to Sandal and do well, even though it’s always a tough place to play,” said coach Whitehead.
“We’re in really good spirits after getting that first win under our belts against Cleckheaton, we’ve trained really well despite the miserable weather and, providing we stick to the things which we are good at, then hopefully we can bat on.”
Another win could move YMCA up from 11th into a solid mid-table slot, as they are only a bonus-point win behind Sheffield Tigers in sixth.
“Sandal have some really pacy backs and a decent scrum, but I know they will be worried about us after we pushed Sale so close and were unlucky to lose to the leaders,” added Whitehead.
“We will be something of an unknown quantity to them and, if we play our own game and stick to our plans, we definitely have the capability to get the result we want.”
Hawkyard’s influence could be key after the way he sliced open the Cleckheaton defence at Laund Hill.
“I played alongside him previously at Underbank and Titch is just a quality rugby player,” said Whitehead.
“He is just what we needed at No10 – that bit of ‘go forward’ and bringing everyone else into it – and he was the missing piece of the jigsaw if you like, a cracking player.”
YMCA: Dyke (Stu), Hill, Moore, Bell, Housley, Lumb, Hodge, Whitehead, Wilson, Hawkyard, Bentley, Van Rooyen, Ryder, Bulloch, Stead. Subs: Slater, Murphy, Clarke.
