After a tough encounter at Tring last weekend, which saw us earn a draw after coming back from 11 nil down with 17 minutes to go, we have regrouped this week. The boys never gave up and battled right until the end and showed the spirit this group has never let us doubt.

The 2nd XV were also at Tring last Saturday and had a great 52-6 win and a number of lads keep putting their hands up each week. Three of that 2nd XV are in the 1st XV squad this week and two are making their 1st XV debuts, with Sam Walker and Joe Stockwell included in the squad for the first time.

Sam for the last couple of years has been playing in the 3rd XV but decided to take rugby seriously this year and has been one of the standout players in the 2nd XV all season. Joe Stockwell, who joined us at the start of this campaign but was hampered by a troublesome hamstring early on, has had some very good games in the 2nd XV and both players deserve their chance. The last addition to this weekend’s squad is Dave Archer, who is having a small operation on his knee in a couple of weeks but has decided to play until then. As always, selection is based on what we believe is our strongest 18 to take the pitch and also the variety our bench options give us.

Harry Morgan, Chris Joyce and Geoff Hughes are the starting front row, with Louis Castiglione on the bench, rotating with Morgan after he has benched for two weeks. The second row sees James Keens and James Kinsley starting again and both were very impressive on Saturday, especially when things were not clicking.

The starting back row is Jack Elston, Josh Corcoran and Torran MacDougall. Elston is a back row by trade but has been mostly playing in the second row and he made a good impact coming on for the injured Joannu on Saturday. Corcoran and MacDougall put in huge shifts defensively on Saturday and stopped people on the gain line time and time again. Dave Archer provides us with the reinforcements on the bench after playing well in the 2nd XV last week. It’s great for the club and also for the 2nd XV that guys like Archer can pass on their vast experience to some of the younger guys and it is also the measure of the man that he had no issue playing in the 2nd XV. In fact, he relished it! Dan Belton and Chris Joannou are both injured and unavailable this week.

At scrum half and fly half we are keeping with Ben Creasey and Ben Lloyd. Creasey played well on Saturday and responded well to the positional defensive duties we gave him. Lloydy, by his own admission, did not have his best game on Saturday but as coaches we believe he has been consistently good and against Guernsey and Barnes he played well. In training he has been a leader for us and continually sets high standards. He lost his way a bit against Tring, probably because he was trying too hard, but he is his own biggest critic and I am looking forward to him playing on Saturday.

On the wings, we see two changes with Joe Stockwell and Rory Seymour starting. Michael Allan is not available this week and Jack Mitchell is on the injured list. The centre pairing is Richard Streets and Aaron Lowe, Sean Taylor is at full back and Sam Walker is the backs’ bench option.

The 2nd XV are away at Henley this week and hopefully they can keep their winning form going, which is helping to drive this group forward and put pressure on the 1st XV selection, as we see with a few guys getting their chance this weekend.

That's it for this week guys, hopefully see you all Saturday!

Cheers

Baz

1st XV to play Towcestrians

15. Sean Taylor
14. Rory Seymour
13. Aaron Lowe
12. Richard Streets
11. Joe Stockwell*
10. Ben Lloyd
9. Ben Creasey
1. Harry Morgan
2. Chris Joyce
3. Geoff Hughes
4. James Keens
5. James Kinsley
6. Jack Elston
7. Josh Corcoran
8. Torran MacDougall

16. Louis Castiglione
17. Dave Archer
18. Sam Walker*

(* signifies 1st XV debut)