Round 24: Albion v Birmingham Moseley

Next up Albion welcome Birmingham Moseley to Brickfields for the penultimate home game of the season.

Moseley currently sit in 8th place and 12 points behind Albion, but with a game in hand. Like Albion they have had an inconsitent season with the high point beating Cambridge at Billesley Common.

They were also successful against Albion back in December outscoring Albion 35-14 having got off to a blistering start. They also won the previous meeting 45-28, again at Billseley. Overall Albion are 20-15 up in 37 encounters over the years (who remembers the 34 all draw from 10 years ago?).

Head to Head Albion have a much better record this season scoring 4.3 tries per game to Moseley's 3.7 whilst conceding at a much lower rate 3.7 tries per game to 4.0. Moseley are also likely to take any points on offer, 23 penalties scored this season (Albion have scored 7).

With tries being shared fairly evenly between the backs and the forwards, Moseley could pose problems for the defence. Albion would do well to close down their backs and prevent the ball going out to their centres and wing where they are quite prolific. Meanwhile, Albion should have the upper hand amongst the forwards although they would be wise to contain their no 8, Oliver Stedman, who has claimed 9 tries this season.

Referee for the day will be Owen Taylor who has dished out 24 yellows and a red in the 12 games he has officiated - a little on the high side but not the harshest. The bad news is that two out of three of his cards have gone to the home side and the away side win 75% of the time.

Weather - Showery with sunny spells around lunch time, becoming more overcast with the rain easing off. A moderate breeze with strong gusts will blow in from the gate corner.

Forecast - a tight game with Albion coming out on top, with rain restricting the scoreline.

Look out for former Albion player James Tideswell at prop - although probability is that he won't be playing.

Other games of note :-

Sale v Rams - a loss for Rams will not only allow Sale to close the gap on the leader but also open the door for Cambridge, who also have a game in hand, to mount a late challenge.

Cambridge v Leeds - a likely loss for Leeds which would sentence them to relegation.