There is more live rugby this Saturday evening, as King’s Macclesfield take on Denstone College at Priory Park, the home of National League side Macclesfield RUFC.
King’s Macclesfield are the hosts for this one as Denstone make the short journey north to take on one of the most in-form teams in the nation. It’s been a strong season for the blue and white, but it has been trickier for their opponents, with steep highs and frustrating lows for Denstone, who have put together a really talented squad for this year’s campaign, but haven’t quite had a clean run of results. Under the Floodlights this weekend, however, anything could happen, with history in this fixture firmly on Denstone’s side.
Coverage starts from 5:15 this Saturday, the 8th of November, and you can catch all the action on the NextGenLive YouTube channel, via the embedded video below.
To start, let’s talk about the hosts for the evening, The King’s School, Macclesfield. King’s Mac has not been discussed at length this season in many sporting circles, but after a formative summer tour to Australia in pre-season, they have had a very good run of results so far. Before half term, they had played eight games, and won six of them, including a first win in three years over Ellesmere College, a 50-point battering of Bradford Grammar school and a confident opening day demolition of old rivals Lancaster Grammar school, who they have now beaten six times on the trot. Even their two defeats of the season were understandable results against top opposition. Kings Mac took on last season’s continental tyres finalists, QEGS Wakefield, and high-flying Northampton School for Boys in consecutive weekends, and were beaten by similar scorelines on both occasions. Since then, however, it was a run of four wins on the bounce before half term, and a home-walkover in the national cup to keep those ambitions alive. The final result before half-term, a 55-0 victory of Caldy Grange Grammar, has seen them waltz into the semi-finals of the Country Cup, where they are soon to take on Stockport in the semi-finals. It is already shaping up to be a successful campaign. Team success is the overall theme for Macclesfield, but is there another Cam Redpath or Ollie Davies type youngster waiting in the wings to star on Saturday night? We shall have to wait and see.
They play St Ambrose today, a side they have not lost since 2007, which should provide them with a suitable warm-up for their big day out. Saturday night lights against Denstone College, a schoolboy powerhouse that, even in a season in which they do not perform at 100%, still consistently produces top players. Last season’s 36-3 victory for Denstone was the first time the two sides had met in 5 years, but it was their 6th win in a row. You’ve got to go all the way back to 2014 to find Macclesfield’s last win in this tie, an 11-8 nailbiter at home. Has the moment come for the hosts to secure their first victory in ten years?
That depends on Denstone, who has been up and down, though they do have a whole host of Leicester Tigers adoring their team, as well as three players present at the recent England U18 development camp. The season started well, with a narrow 20-19 win at home to Uppingham, but a trip to Sedbergh in week two yielded a painful defeat. They responded well with a win over Staffordshire’s U18 side but were then beaten by Ipswich. You can guess that came next – a win over Trent College before a defeat to Worksop College. However the production line in Uttoxeter is always churning. The men in maroon were without winger Lochie Glackin at St Joes, who was present at England’s U18 camp over the break. As was captain Fin Charles, who has that aura about him that many soon-to-be professional locks have – running a clean lineout and carrying like a man possessed. They have two tigers props holding down the front row, and a thrilling centre partnership of Leicester’s Joe Henstock and 16-year-old Italian starlet Marcello Fornaroli. As already discussed, they are an excellent team on paper; they just need every cog to turn in time this weekend.
Having held down this contest for over ten years, and possessing a side with so much potential, Denstone may come into this contest as slight favourites, despite their patchy form before half term. Kings Macclesfield, on a potentially 7-match unbeaten streak, will be desperate to claim victory under the lights, and on the live-stream, this Saturday, with a potentially raucous home support at Priory Park, with the School and Club enjoying such close ties together. Tune in from 5:15 this Saturday, the 8th of November, for what should be a cracking contest.
