Whitehead to skipper Coventry until end of the season

HOOKER Chris Whitehead will captain Coventry on the field for the remainder of the season. The 22-year-old front row forward took over from club captain Henno Venter to lead the side in their last two games against Otley and Exeter, both resulting in five-point wins, and has been handed the job for Cov’s final three National Division One games.

“At the moment Henno is working very hard on his own game and is having to play in both the second row and the back row, which is a big ask of him,” said rugby director Phil Maynard. “This is a way of lifting the pressure off him, and it showed against Exeter on Saturday when he had an outstanding game.”

Whitehead, who is in his second season at Cov, has figured in all but one of their 28 games this campaign. “It’s a great honour for me and something I’m very happy to do for the team,” he said. “We are a really tight-knit bunch of players and give our best for each other week in and week out.

“We all thought we were good enough to beat Exeter, and we had amazing support from the fans. Now we just want to take this forward to the last three games, starting with London Welsh here on Saturday.”

Venter joins Coventry’s illustrious list of Barbarians tonight when he plays in the Mobbs Memorial Match against a Bedford XV at Goldington Road.