Sixth-placed Rams sit one spot and half-a-dozen points adrift of their long-term rivals, with their visitors one of the in-form sides in the division with five wins in their last six games before the festive break.
‘Quality Sale are coming on strong’
And ahead of an 11th clash between the two clubs since Rams arrival at Level Three, the Director of Rugby said: “They’ve always been a quality side, even in the moments they’ve not been right at the top they’ve remained strong.
“We’ve had great games with them over the years, they’re in a rich vein of form, and even when they’ve lost games they’ve picked up bonus-points, which is so important.
“It’s especially the case this year where the league seems quite open, lots of teams have shown quality at different times – Rotherham, Plymouth, Rosslyn Park, ourselves and others have all had their moments – but now it’s Sale coming on strong.
“It will be a good challenge.”
Rams go into the game on the back of a frustrating defeat at Dings Crusaders, a loss which came just seven days after one of the best performances of the campaign when beating title-chasing Rosslyn.
Squad challenged during Christmas break
Commenting on the up-and-down nature of the performances in the first half of the season, he continued: “We said at the start we’d have moments where we play sublime stuff – some of it I think has been among the best we’ve played in National One – but we’ve also shown the naivety of youth. It’s now time to push on.
“We’re looking for consistency in our performances and bridging the gap between the top and bottom end of what we’ve done so far.
“We’ve aimed to challenge the lads a bit more this Christmas so hopefully they’re completely ready to attack the new year – Phil (Hoy, Head of S&C) and Dan (Michael, Head of Medical) were instrumental in that – and they seem to have come back with great energy.
“Training’s been slightly different with the weather, but I’m pleased with what they’ve produced and we’re very grateful to Maidenhead letting us train on their artificial – they’ve been so accommodating.”
Lamb given chance at No. 10
Rams make four changes to the starting line-up, with James Baker and Connor Stapley returning to the pack and Andrew Lamb – recalled from his loan at Henley Hawks – taking the fly-half jersey with Ellis Jones at inside centre.
Seb explained: “We feel it’s a good opportunity for Andrew to start at 10 – in a way he’s been a victim of his own talent because he can play scrum-half, wing, full-back.
“But he showed at the back end of last year he can be very good at fly-half, he’s worked incredibly hard and it’s important to give him a chance in what are likely to be different conditions to when he was so good at Darlington in the last game of last season.
“There’s a challenge for him and (scrum-half) Ollie Hodgson to manage the forecast conditions.”
Tomlinson rewarded for ‘huge commitment’
Another stand-out name in the squad is student George Tomlinson, who is in line for a debut off the bench.
And the DoR praised the youngster, saying: “He has got a huge amount of talent.
“George was with Worcester Academy as a youngster, came to Reading University and had an excellent pre-season.
“Then unfortunately he was involved in a car accident on holiday, but thankfully he’s ok now and he’s shown a huge commitment.
“Sometimes youngsters don’t fully realise what you need to do to maximise their talent, but George has done that in recent weeks.
“He’s knuckled down, played for the Under 23s and turned down a ski trip this week because he understands the sacrifices you have to put in to excel at his level.
“I’m very excited to get him in and I’m sure he’ll be happier in the possible rain and snow in Sonning than on the slopes.”
With a sell-out lunch – hugely supported by new sponsor RLB Digital – and a big crowd expected for the first OBR fixture since the start of December, Seb is excited for the contest.
“The support all season has been amazing and to have a big lunch for the first game of 2026 is brilliant. Hopefully we can put on a show.”
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