As we head back into action after the festive break, I wanted to give you a quick update of Saturday's game against Barnes. Training over Christmas has gone well and we managed to only miss two sessions of what normally would have been four with 40 boys in attendance over the two sessions. This Tuesday night's training was very intense with the boys managing to get rid of some of the excess Turkey!

For this Saturday, the front row remains the same as our last time out, with Harry Morgan, Chris Joyce and Geoff Hughes continuing. Louis Cas will remain on the bench this week as he made a big impact against Shelford as a replacement.

In the 2nd row, James Kinsley returns from his injury to start alongside Jack Elston. Our bench option will be James Keens this week, with Keensy having had five solid games in the 2nd XV after returning from a back injury. Will Goodman was also considered for the bench but we have gone for a more heavyweight scrummaging option.

The back row sees a change at 7, with Josh Corcoran unavailable this week, so Ollie Cain will start after some playing some cracking rugby in the last few weeks. Dan Belton remains at 6 with Torran MacDougall at 8.

The half backs remain unchanged with Michael Sargent and Ben Lloyd, with the coaches happy with the way these two are playing. Both wingers also stay the same as against Shelford with Jack Mitchell and Michael Allen keeping their spots.

With Sean Taylor unavailable this weekend, Stuart Smart reverts to fullback, with Richard Streets and Aaron Lowe forming the centre combination. We feel that this puts our strongest 7 backs on the pitch that are available to us this week.

The backs’ bench option was an interesting one this week, with 3 players in the running, but selection headaches were made easier with Ben Creasey being unavailable this week and Kyle Lemon not recovering from a bad ankle. Rory Seymour was the other option in the running and he will go on the bench this week. Rory has been playing very well in the 2nd XV at full back and fly half and deserves his spot.

The boys are looking forward to the trip to Barnes and we are looking to put the record straight after losing to them at Hoe Lane earlier in the season. They are a well organised side and will be a tough nut to crack but if we want to be challenging for the top spots then these are games we need to be approaching in a confident manner.

The 2nd XV will be at home this week against Bury St Edmunds and they have a very strong line up, so if you do not make the trip to Barnes it would be great if you could show these guys some support.

That's it for this week and wishing you all a happy new year from the coaching staff and playing squad.

Cheers, Baz

1st XV to play Shelford

15. Stuart Smart
14. Michael Allan
13. Aaron Lowe
12. Richard Streets
11. Jack Mitchell
10. Ben Lloyd
9. Michael Sargent (c)
1. Harry Morgan
2. Chris Joyce
3. Geoff Hughes
4. Jack Elston
5. James Kinsley
6. Dan Belton
7. Ollie Cain
8. Torran MacDougall

16. Louis Castiglione
17. James Keens
18. Rory Seymour