Round 15 of the Betfred Championship gets underway with second place Sheffield Eagles travelling to France to face Toulouse, who sit fourth in the table.
After struggling away from home recently, Toulouse bounced back last weekend. The French side defeated the unbeaten league leaders, Featherstone Rovers. The sides were locked together at 18-18, but three tries in the final quarter saw Toulouse go home with the two points.
After losing at home to Whitehaven, Mark Aston’s Sheffield Eagles bounced back with a 40-10 victory over York Knights.
The Eagles defeated their opposition when the sides met earlier in the season.
Sheffield are looking for their first away win at Toulouse since June 2011.
Tyler Dickinson could make his 150th career appearance. Dickinson has made 65 appearances for Sheffield.
Barrow will be looking for back-to-back wins for the first time in the Championship this season, when Widnes travel to Cumbria.
The Raiders defeated Keighley last week, as a late Jarrod Sammut try split the two sides.
Barrow beat Widnes on all three meetings during the 2022 season.
Widnes will travel to Cumbria for the second week in a row. The Vikings will be hoping for a better result after losing to Whitehaven.
John Kear’s side sit seventh in the table with a 50% strike rate this season. Widnes defeated Barrow when the sides met earlier in the season.
Bradford Bulls will welcome Halifax Panthers to Odsal on Sunday afternoon.
This will be the third meeting between the sides this year. Bradford beat Halifax 26-22 in Round Eight, before the Panthers got their revenge in the Challenge Cup.
Lee Greenwood has won all four matches since taking charge, which sees the Bulls sit fifth in the table.
A victory for Simon Grix’s side would see them overtake Bradford in the table.
Last weekend, Halifax produced a strong second half display which saw Lachlan Walmsley score four tries against Swinton.
Featherstone will be looking to bounce back from their defeat last week as London Broncos travel to West Yorkshire.
Rovers had stood out throughout the season, but suffered their first blip last weekend. A common theme so far has been their strong attack. Featherstone have scored 150 points more than any other side in the league.
London have picked up well recently and will be aiming to reach the play-offs. A defeat at Bradford last week brought an end to a run of three consecutive wins.
The Broncos are eighth in the table.
Newcastle Thunder will welcome Keighley to Kingston Park.
Chris Thorman’s side sit bottom of the table and will be hoping to get what would be a vital victory.
Thunder won their opening game of 2023, however, they have failed to pick up a Championship win since then.
Keighley will be looking to end their four-game losing streak. The West Yorkshire club have conceded late last week at Barrow and have been competitive in their matches.
The Cougars beat Newcastle 44-24 when the sides met previously in Round Three this season.
Swinton Lions will welcome Batley Bulldogs to Heywood Road.
Swinton started well last weekend, as they went in at half-time 8-8 with Halifax Panthers. But the Panthers came out firing in the second half.
Allan Coleman’s sit 13th in the table with four wins this season. One of those victories came in Round Two against Batley.
Rhodri Lloyd could make his 250th career appearance. Lloyd has made 178 appearances for Swinton since joining in 2015.
Craig Lingard’s Batley Bulldogs side have continue their good form from last season. The Bulldogs sit third in the table and have won their previous six Betfred Championship matches.
Batley have shown a resilience to grind out results, with five of those recent victory have come with a margin of fewer than 10 points.
Fixtures
Saturday
- Toulouse v Sheffield Eagles – 5PM
Sunday
- Barrow Raiders v Widnes Vikings - 3PM
- Bradford Bulls v Halifax Panthers - 3PM
- Featherstone Rovers v London Broncos - 3PM
- Newcastle Thunder v Keighley Cougars - 3PM
- Swinton Lions v Batley Bulldogs - 3PM
