By Paul Smith 
Club captain Jordon Poole and powerhouse Fijian Senitiki Nayalo return to Coventry’s starting line-up for tomorrow’s testing visit to back-to-back league champions Ealing.
Cov’s inspirational skipper who was rotated to the bench for last week’s comfortable home win over Nottingham returns to the middle of the front row at Trailfinders Park.
And he is joined in a powerful starting pack by British Army forward Nayalo who last week was part of his employer’s annual inter-services clash with the RAF at Kingsholm.
Coventry head coach Alex Rae selects Nayalo in the second row alongside former Ealing lock Rhys Anstey which means Chester Owen packs down alongside Tom Ball and Matt Kvesic in the back row.
After missing last week’s win, prop Eliot Salt is fit to return to the matchday 23 as the replacement tight-head which means Jevaughn Warren reverts to providing loose-head cover.
Cov opt for six forwards on the bench which means on-loan Bath pair Jack Bennett and Mackenzie Graham – who becomes a Blue-and-White next season – provide support for the back five.
Behind the scrum leading scorer Jimmy Martin misses out due to a head injury sustained against the Archers.
Coventry cover his absence by switching on-loan Edinburgh flier Jake Henry to the left wing. This means Oli Morris wears the no.13 shirt and another ex-Trailfinder Tom Hitchcock returns at inside centre on the back of his two-try performance from the bench against Nottingham.
David Opoku who went three better than Hitchcock while setting a new Coventry league record last time out joins Henry and Logan Trotter in the back three where the versatile Will Lane again provides cover.
Rae said Cov go into tomorrow’s game in positive mood following their impressive home win over Nottingham.
“We always pick our team based on how people are training and playing and after last week’s performance against Nottingham there were never going to be many changes,” he said.
“Ealing are deserving league winners as they’ve been much the most consistent team across the season. The trophy is being presented to them on Saturday and that means we have the chance to be the ultimate party poopers.
“They’re a big, strong physical team who do a lot of damage when they get momentum going. We know we need to be really on our game because if they get a roll on it’s very hard to contain so physicality in the contact area is really important for us.
“We’ve won there before so we know what’s possible but they won’t be taking their foot off the gas on a day when they’re receiving the league trophy so it presents a really good challenge for us.”
Coventry: Logan Trotter; David Opoku, Oli Morris, Tom Hitchcock, Jake Henry; Tommy Mathews, Sam Maunder; Toby Trinder, Jordon Poole, Matt Johnson; Rhys Anstey, Senitiki Nayalo; Tom Ball, Matt Kvesic, Chester Owen
Replacements: Suva Ma’asi, Jevaughn Warren, Eliot Salt, Dan Green, Jack Bennett, Mackenzie Graham, Josh Barton, Will Lane
Match tickets for Cov’s final home game of the season against London Scottish on Saturday May 31st can be purchased at https://www.coventryrugby.co.uk/tickets/matchday-tickets/
