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Senior Rugby: The Preview

Senior Rugby: The Preview

Laura Parker20 Oct 2017 - 08:38
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With a less than fabulous weather forecast this weekend, Jon Smith previews how our teams might deal with it..

The senior coaching team have been hard at work this week organising 4 squads - this weekend coincides with the start of the school half term break so availability can sometimes be an issue. Richard Holland, Andy Sutcliffe and Mike Howlett have organised the A XV and 4th XV teams to face Sudbury (home) and Ipswich YM (away) respectively.

The Ravens will take on Westcombe Park 2nd XV at Mill Road. The Ravens are fielding a strong side and plenty of players with plenty of 1st XV experience in the shape of skipper Andy Goodbourn and Eli Castle. We also welcome Dan Hexley back into action for Colchester RFC - Dan was the skipper of one of our great Colts sides and his presence will inject a little 'tenacity' into the front row. We are also looking forward to Zac Puckey making his senior debut. Zac put in an outstanding performance for the Colts against Braintree last week and he has impressed everyone at training this week with his superb attitude and determination. Zac has the potential to star in the back row, he's a quick around the field and aggressive with the ball in hand. Last week he made a raft of powerful breaks and the Braintree defence couldn't get near him!

The 1st XV travel to Ruislip RFC in Middlesex. Ruislip are currently sitting in 9th place in London 1 North, registering two wins so far this season; against Letchworth and Saffron Walden. Ruislip are an established London 1 side and they will be tough test for our boys. Elsewhere in the league fellow promotion chasers Chingford visit Fullerians and Amersham and Chiltern will host Saffron Walden. As a team we are well aware of the need to keep our momentum going and pick up invaluable bonus points whenever possible. With just seven points separating the top three sides, the leadership of the league could change hands over the course of two games - every point is precious. Colchester last faced Ruislip on March 28th 2015 in London 1 promotion season, running away with the game (19-83) after scoring 13 tries! On that day Callum Irvine, our captain at the time, weighed in with five tries and from memory ten different players contributed to the scoreboard!

In terms of selection both Joe Reid and Simon Gray are back in the squad after benefitting from two weeks rest. Rory Miller would have retained his place in the starting XV this week but an unfortunate collision in training has ruled him out. Rory's place in the second row will be taken by club legend Lee Soper. Lee made an appearance off the bench against Chingford to cover for Liam Pickett, but this time he is in the starting line-up. Lee needs no introduction - prior to the game at Chingford, he last pulled on a Colchester shirt during the 2015-16 National Three campaign and shepherded our young side to a 9th place finish including an incredible string of victories in what became known as "Just win January". The back row is unchanged with Dan Whiteman, Joe Beckett and Ollie Pickett at 6, 7 and 8 respectively. Harrison Pickett continues his return to action from the bench providing cover for the loose forward positions.

Matt Wadling and Brett Cutbush continue at scrum half and fly half. George Liversidge is unavailable this weekend so David Brennan moves from the wing to inside centre. After a good performance for the Ravens against Redingensians where he was able to demonstrate his pace and power in both attack and defence, Julian Chamberlain-Carter moves into the vacated left wing spot with the ever-present James Crozier on his customary right wing and our leading try-scorer Will Brown at full back.

Although you can never trust a weather forecast, everyone is predicting that Saturday will be wet and windy. Although storm "Brian" doesn't sound terribly threatening, the predicted 70mph winds could have an influence on both the tactics and approach to the game. There is a significant slope at West End Road and both teams will have to consider modifications to line outs and their kicking game.

The physio team have been kept busy this week, but on a positive note, when we have some of our walking wounded back in contention, we will have great strength in depth across the club. This week Rhys Hartley and Liam Pickett have both returned to light training and will be back in contention for places very soon.

On Sunday a number of the 1st XV will be at Mill Road supporting our Youth coaches in some specialised aspects of the game. Brett Cutbush, David Higgins, Joe Reid, Rob Pickard and Simon Gray have pledged to give up their Sunday morning lie in in order to pass on their knowledge and expertise to help our young rugby players. There are so many aspects of sport that are dominated by professionalism, incentives and financial gain - it is great to see our players giving up their time and energy to support the future of the club.

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