ALL EYES tomorrow will be on the results in south west division one to see which team will be coming to Down Grange for the national league promotion play-off.
Basingstoke earned the right to stage the match against the second finishers in south west division one on April 27 with a 47-3 win at Winchester last Saturday. The win guaranteed the Down Grange side second place in London division one with home advantage because of a superior points return.
Dings Crusaders from Bristol are favourites to come to Basingstoke in a fortnight. They are two points clear of Barnstaple and have a home match tomorrow against bottom side Dorchester.
Barnstaple, who beat Basingstoke 17-13 in an Intermediate Cup quarter-final three seasons ago, are currently third and they travel to Swanage and Wareham, second from bottom, tomorrow.
Basingstoke meanwhile entertain Thanet Wanderers in their final league match of the season. Nothing is at stake for the home side but Thanet will be seeking a win to keep them clear of the relegation zone.
Home coach Ian Calder says there is no danger of his side easing up in the two weeks before the play-off.
"We know our season is going to be judged on that one game," he said. "For the boys it's like the cup."
They will not want to dent a home record that has seen just one defeat in league and cup matches.
"This is a dress rehearsal for the play-off and it's a big thing playing at home," said Calder. "We've gone beyond taking games easy."
Calder makes two changes to his back division with Robbie Holmes given a full 80 minutes on the wing while Rafer Joseph starts on the bench. Leading try scorer Chris Norton, whose elbow injury kept him out last week, returns at full-back.
Ash Riley, unavailable last week, starts on the bench with Matt Evans keeping his hooker's spot. There are slight injury worries over Kelvin Chapman (knee) and Andy Wilson (shoulder) so Simon Appleby is named as the third replacement.
Basingstoke: C Norton; R Holmes, J Rees, N Taylor, G Jones; I Calder, T Dean; N Young, M Evans, S Collins, N Hooker, S Drawbridge, P Della-Savina, R Baker (capt), M Reeve. Reps: R Joseph, A Riley, S Appleby.
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