B&I Cup final preview

A new name will be engraved on the British & Irish Cup this year with Greene King IPA Championship outfits Doncaster Knights and Warriors through to their first-ever final this evening (kick-off 5.10pm, live on Sky Sports HD).

Both sides completed the pool stages of this season's competition with unblemished records after winning all six of their matches.

The Knights qualified as top seeds after picking up five try-scoring bonus points from home and away victories against Cornish Pirates, Bedford Blues and Cross Keys.

Warriors did the double over Nottingham, Munster A and Moseley and finished the pool stages with 27 points compared to Doncaster's 29.

In the quarter-finals, Doncaster faced 2012 winners Munster A at Castle Park while Worcester were drawn at home to Wales's sole representatives in the last eight, Pontypridd.

Knights made a mockery of their poor form in the league to beat the Irish province 38-17, with skipper Michael Hills grabbing a first-half brace and Bruno Bravo, Latu Makaafi and Dougie Flockhart adding further scores against the visitors who had Lions forward Donncha O'Callaghan in their ranks.

Meanwhile, Warriors had their place in the semi-finals booked by half-time after early tries from Dean Hammond, Ben Howard and Ignacio Mieres, with the latter converting all three and kicking a penalty.

Pontypridd hit back with a late converted try but it was too little too late to stop Warriors progressing to the last four.

It took a heroic defensive effort from Doncaster to upset the odds and knock Bristol out in the semi-finals, while Warriors became the first English team in 11 attempts to down two-time winners and defending champions Leinster A in an equally tense match at Sixways.

Warriors' flanker Sam Betty, who recently signed a new contract with the promotion-chasing club, has scored three tries in the two league meetings between the clubs this season.

Both ended in wins for the Warriors: 32-16 at Castle Park and 25-5 in the return match at Sixways on January 31, 2015.

Worcester's only previous experience of Castle Park before this season came in the 2010/11 Championship campaign when they prevailed 37-16.

In winger Dougie Flockhart, Doncaster boast the GKIPA Championship's top points-scorer. The Championship Player of the Month for February has 208 points for the season.

How they got here:

Doncaster Knights
Cross Keys away 37-32 W
Cornish Pirates home 29-25 W
Bedford home 36-20 W
Bedford away 17-15 W
Cornish Pirates away 31-30 W
Cross Keys home 54-0 W
QF: Munster A home 38-17 W
SF: Bristol home 27-22 W

Worcester Warriors
Nottingham away 26-19 W
Munster A home 27-23 W
Moseley away 39-0 W
Moseley home 31-12 W
Munster A 23-18 W
Nottingham home 43-22 W
QF: Pontypridd home 24-12 W
SF: Leinster A home 15-13 W
 


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