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New England Rugby Union: Forwards battle looms in Robb and Baa Baas preliminary final clash

They suffered a disappointing loss to St Albert’s College to miss out on the first spot in the grand final, but Robb College have one more shot at landing a place at the big dance when they clash with Barbarians on Saturday.

Sam Ditchfield’s side fell 43-10 to the Albies but live another week after finishing the season in second place.

Robb’s dominance in scrums, pooled with the Baa Baas’ reputation for a physical game, points to a battle up front.

“Baa Baas have certainly been going well over the last couple of weeks and it is going to be a tough game,” Ditchfield said.

“It is going to be a battle of the forwards. They have a very big forward pack. We have had good contests against them this year.

“The scrums are going to be somewhere they will look to take us on. We have done a fair bit of work on our scrum in the last week.”

The students are set to welcome back playmakers Harry Morrow and Liam Salmon for the Baa Baas game.

“We have Harry Morrow coming back in at halfback, who we didn’t have last week,” Ditchfield

“Liam Salmon, who looked like he was going to be out for the season, went for a checkup and everything had remarkably improved. He is actually going to be available too. They’re 100 per cent fit and ready to roll.”

The addition of Morrow and Salmon provides the side a bit more creativity and Robb hope that off the back of the forwards, they can add the spark to topple their opponents.

“If we can get the ball and move them around a bit and stay focused for 80 minutes, it will be a tight finish,” Ditchfield said.

“They have kept improving and they are a side who play a very combative, up front game, so we have to match them there. We don’t need to change much in what we do.”