Cumbria Rugby are gearing up for a crucial top-of-the-table clash this Saturday as they host Northumberland in the Bill Beaumont County Championship at Penrith.
Following an impressive 52-26 victory over Durham last weekend, the squad has been finetuned for the clash at Winters Park which could decide who goes through to the next stage of the competition.
Head coach Dan Bowman, alongside forwards coaches Gareth Gore and Reece Tomlinson, have focused on building on the forward dominance that proved decisive in last weekend’s success.
But there has to be changes through unavailabilities, and they will include five debutants on the bench – Patrick Wolstenholme, Lewis Davis, Ben Lawson, Jack Tunnicliffe and Jake Stewart.
There’s another debutant in the starting line-up, but a familiar name in county rugby circles – Aspatria winger Shane Cusack.
In another positional change Keswick’s Peter Weightman, who was outstanding at wing-forward in the win against Durham, switches to centre.
Teenager Flynn Manihera of Wigton will start at fly-half.
Gary Hewer, who also coaches England Rugby League’s Community Lions Under-19s, has brought significant professionalism to Cumbria’s programme over his 15-year involvement with the county.
Through structured performance management, player-specific matrices, and detailed analysis, the performance department has developed exceptional depth across the squad.
Hewer has engaged with nearly every club in the county, resulting in 96 players being nominated by club head coaches and lead delegates.
That strength in depth is now proving vital as the campaign reaches its decisive stage.
Saturday’s fixture is a genuine crunch match. Having beaten Cheshire last weekend, Northumberland currently sit alongside Cumbria at the top of the group. The winner will take control of the pool and move a major step closer to a Twickenham final.
Penrith Rugby Club, which has not hosted a county championship fixture for nearly 15 years, will stage this battle between the two most northerly counties in English rugby.
Cumbria Rugby is looking for strong home crowd backing.
Cumbria’s squad is: 1. Arran Sullivan (Aspatria), 2. Tom Graham (Carlisle), 3, Jack Gaskell (Penrith), 4. Ant Davies (Penrith), 5. Chris Graham (Aspatria), 6.Alistair Thompson (Kendal), 7. Tom McCulolough (capt, Northern), 8. Will Addyman (Keswick), 9. Richard Addison (Upper Eden), 10. Flynn Manihera (Wigton), 11. Dan Shorrock (Kendal), 12. Peter Weightman (v. Capt, Keswick), 13, Ben O’Halloran (Kendal), 14, Shane Cusack (Aspatria), 15, Lewis Tingey (Carlisle). 18, Patrick Wolstenholme (Kendal), Alex Briggs (Kirkby Lonsdale), Lewis Davis (Keswick), Finn Kennedy (Carlisle), Ben Lawson (Kirkby Lonsdale), Jack Tunnicliffe (Penrith), Ryan Scott (Aspatria), Jake Steart (Kirkby Lonsdale).
