North Midlands have made five changes to their side for their final match in this season’s County Championship Bill Beaumont Cup Second Division South against Somerste at Stourbridge’s Stourton Park on Saturday May 23 (3pm).
Bromsgrove blindside flanker Chris Morgan starts having impressed when he came on as a replacement in last week’s win over Devon at Brixham with Myles Edwards making way in the only change to the pack.
The entire three-quarters are changed with Birmingham & Solihull winger Jimmy Oliver starting in his first appearance of the season and the Stourbridge pair of Tom Jarvis and Ben Barkley both returning after they were unavailable last week.
Birmingham & Solihull’s Steve Leach also starts and forms a new centre pairing with Barkley in the fifth change to the starting XV.
On the bench Stourbridge back row forward Drew Harper also returns to the squad after he was unable to travel to Brixham.
North Midlands cannot win promotion and progress to next week’s final even they beat Somerset as they cannot overhaul Surrey, the current group leaders.
North Midlands
15 Joe Doyle (Luctonians); 14 Tom Jarvis (Stourbridge), 13 Ben Barkley (Stourbridge), 12 Steve Leach (Birmingham & Solihull), 11 Jimmy Oliver (Birmingham & Solihull); 10 Tom Jones (Luctonians), 9 Jacob Nash (Stourbridge); 1 Robert Green (Bromsgrove), 2 Dale Garner (Stourbridge), 3 Mark George (Stourbridge), 4 Chris Goddard (Birmingham & Solihull – captain), 5 Steve Smith (Bournville), 6 Chris Morgan (Bromsgrove), 7 Sam Montieri (Bromsgrove), 8 Phil Horton (Bromsgrove).
Replacements: Stefan Thorpe (Birmingham & Solihull), Gino Belmonte (Bromsgrove), Nick Murphy (Stourbridge), Drew Harper (Stourbridge), Tom Millen (Bromsgrove), Liam Marshall (Dudley Kingswinford).