Seven players who were unavailable for the 73-12 pre-Christmas home success versus Chinnor come into the reckoning, led in the front row by imposing tight-head prop Obi Nwachuku.
The two-time OBB Division One title-winning teenage wrecking ball has caught the eye in several Development XV fixtures so far this term, and will be joined by Fraser Shaw and hooker Harry Bicknell at the head of the scrum.
The latter is one of two players in the pack to have featured in National One this term, the other being Paddy Jackson who is joined in the engine room by the precocious Spencer Codling.
A former Harlequins Academy ace who has been performing well for Cardiff Met as a fresher this year, he is joined in the starting line-up by another Newbury former junior, No. 8 Seb Burgess.
Nwachuku’s successful age-group captain Aaron Preston and blind-side flanker Jack Rushton round out the forwards.
Tomlinson moves to fly-half
The third player to have featured at Level Three this season, scrum-half Louis Pereira, has a new stand-off outside him as ex-Worcester Warrior George Tomlinson moves a slot inside from 12.
This creates room for hard-carrying former Oratory School to partner the classy Paddy Brown in midfield, with three of the past two year’s Colts completing the three-quarters.
Theo Pett-Ridge again starts at full-back fresh from his stunning hat-trick against Chinnor, while Declan Grobbelaar and Finlay Wells are also well-known as dangerous finishers out wide.
A 5-1 split on the bench sees three more graduates from the Colts cover the front row, Ollie Ireland, Ant Jessett – equally capable of playing on the flank – and Jayden Benham having all gained Berkshire age-group honours.
Will Burroughs has impressed for the Development XV while the irrepressible Charlie Burton showed he has not skipped a beat while playing at Exeter University, the workhorse producing a typically gritty 80-minute display versus Chinnor.
The squad, which is subject to change, is completed by scrum-half Louis Roumignac.
Rams Under 23s Team @ Richmond U23s
(15-9, 1-8) Pett-Ridge, Grobbelaar, Brown, J Jackson, Wells, Tomlinson, Pereira; Shaw, Bicknell, Nwachuku, P Jackson, Codling, Rushton, Preston, Burgess
Replacements: Ireland, Jessett, Benham, Burton, Roumignac, Burroughs
