CAPTAIN Robbie Stapley returns to action for the first time since his match-winning try against Bishop’s Stortford last month as Rams get set for a crunch Old Bath Road clash with table-topping Cinderford tomorrow (3pm).

The skipper missed the subsequent games against Darlington Mowden Park and Sale with a foot injury, but with a couple of extra weeks to regain full fitness, he is restored to the starting line-up as one of five changes.

Hooker Ben Henderson is also back having come through the Titans’ victory at Blackheath 2nd XV a fortnight ago to make his first start since the Taunton game at the start of October.

Between the pair, they have more than 250 first-team caps for Rams, and there is further experience added to the pack with Sean McDonnell-Roberts coming into the front row alongside Henderson and Jack Steadman, and Colin Thomson joining Ollie Taylor in the engine room.

Stapley’s return means the back row trio of Jamie Guttridge, Tom Vooght and the captain are reunited in what is likely to be a ferociously contested battle between the two packs.

At half-back, Ollie Cole starts at scrum-half with Drew Humberstone outside him, while Connor Hayhow is in at 12 for the first time this season in a new midfield partnership with Ellis Jones.

The final change for Rams sees the return of Kieran Leicester at full back, with the starting line-up rounded out by wings Henry Bird and Jak Rossiter.

On the bench, London Irish loanee Tarek Haffar and James Baker provide cover in the front row, while the versatile Paul Schroter, who has shown he is equally adept at lock or in the back row, will provide further power.

Experienced scrum-half Greg Illingworth is back in the squad for the first time in a couple of years, with Steffan James offering further options outside him.

With a big crowd expected, fans are asked to pre-book their tickets here

Rams v Cinderford

(15-9, 1-8) Leicester, Rossiter, Jones, Hayhow, Bird, Humberstone, Cole; Steadman, Henderson, McDonnell-Roberts, Taylor, Thomson, Guttridge, Vooght (vc), Stapley ©

Substitutes: Haffar, Baker, Schroter, Illingworth, James.