Otherwise, I suspect that each year, we all expect the team/s relegated from Nat1 will, if not bounce back up, that they will do very well.  That has raerely been the case and most of these teams have been surprised by the standard.  I personally thought ESher would buck this trend and they may yet do so, but very well done indeed to Choppers on their tight win.

The fixtures secretary was not kind to either Sutton or Bournemouth......the latter will have been none too surprised having had a fair amount of more recent experience.  I hope both sides did not lose players to injury in these rugged early encounters.  Both will be aware that in all likelihood, survival MAY depend on winning home games against the lesser lights in this very tough league.

Westcliff will be gutted I am sure to lose their own first game so late on against Dings.  

My lot started slowly against Old Reds.....absent their mercurial winger Bird.  I thought that their half back were pretty good.....although the 10 who I saw against us before.....Kieron Hill ?? was missing....good player I thought.  The pack were decent again, with the old guard of Pursall, Fry and Doyle all evident in the loose.  That said.....on just this showing they might be in for another relegation battle.....just IMO of course.

Another great season ahead 

Henry Bird had a storming debut for Rams away at Cambridge, bagged a brace and looked very dangerous whenever he got the ball. 

Where was Jumpin Jack ?

I note the absence of any tries from Ben Henderson so assume your rolling maul was not as effective as usual ?

Well done regardless........6th to 8th a good result this year ?

I'm not privy to the Coaching set up, so don't know if Henry will always be at 15. Jumping Jak played for the 2's who also beat Cambridge 2's on the day. Hendo was outstanding, as usual, in fact the Cambridge Mail likened on of his runs to Johnny May, hopefully he hasn't read that. Just for a change, all five Rams tries came from the backs. 

I'd take 6th to 8th any day. 

Possibly a different challenge against Mosley this Saturday. Early days......... 

Otherwise, there is a chance that both the bottom 4 teams and the top 6 have already arranged themselves approximately   Unlikely i know, but it is not far from my own estimate of how the season will turn out. 

While LL have set their stall out for a competitive season, it would seem that S & E, Westcliffe, Bourne mouth and to a lesser extent Old Reds, are showing early signs of struggling to make the grade ?  any posters from these clubs have a reason to disagree with that ?

I personally was not too surprised to see Clifton e\win their derby......they looked a quality side to me last year and their league position did not seem to me, to reflect that.

After losing at the Recreation ground and only scoring 8pts in doing so, i did onder if Esher might struggle at combative Barnes, who (i think)  finished strongly last year.  the result, 34-61, was a bit of a contrast ?  anybody at the game explain this ?  were barnes realky poor or esher excellent ?

another interesting result was at taunton......choppers rarely great on the road and i wondered if the titans might impose themselves and rack up the points ?  any observations from those in attendance ?

can titans challenge for promotion this year ?

my lot did ok at Chapel Gate......Bournemouth unbeaten at home since Oct 17......albeit at level 5.  they have a pack that might cause some sides a problem and troubled us a bit.  i suspect that the lack of a backs threat might be a problem for them.

best of luck to all though......early days and maybe there are a lot of injuries out there ?

   

 

When I saw the Redruth team in the programme, my initial thoughts were that Taunton would struggle. In fact Taunton dominated most areas of the game and, as the score suggests, won pretty comfortably. I agree, Redruth struggle on the road and even though ours is their closest away fixture it's still a pretty tiring journey on an unseasonally hot day.

The thing that has impressed me has been the Taunton defence which stifled the Redruth (and Bournemouth) attacks, an area which was a problem during the pre-season. I can't remember if Julian Salvi played in the pre-season but he has been impressive the past two weeks. I'm not sure if he will be available due to Exeter commitments (the premiership cup starts this weekend).  The new scrum half (James Tait) has impressed in both games, maybe we wont miss Jordan Petherbridge after all

titans beat Raiders 62-24 at home last year, only to lose the away fixture 66-31......though the latter result probably had an end-of-season flavour to it for your team.   

Did I see Gary K playing at 10 recently ? 

Yes, Gary K played 10 in both games. He was replaced in the second half against Redruth by Lewis Webb (who was unavailable the previous week). We have injuries to our other 10s (Toby East and Sam Brown). I reckon Lewis Webb will play mostly at 10 this season, as I said James Tait has been impressive so far. Gary's replacement 15 is playing well also.

Pete

it is highly likely that Titans, Esher and maybe one or two others may turn out to be very good sides this year, but I can't see past a TJ's/Hawks battle for the title.  Scoring 50pts AND putting a nil on Old Reds was worryingly good.  I shall of course, pray for disaster to befall you at some point but suspect it will do no good

Darth, I believe Saul Nelson has had Kieron Hill follow him to Cross Keys, he is a very good player who lacked confidence at moving up whilst playing under his dad at Clevedon, he moved to Taunton and Dings I believe also Hornets before Old Reds. He has a great boot on him.

well done to Lions again.....they seem to be establishing themselves well in this league.

i was gutted that i did not go against the grain and predict a Barnes win, which i really fancied......although 2-5 to be fair.  but i followed the herd.  bum

otherwise.....results pretty much followed expectations.  it seemed that we had some good new posters from our new sides to the league......i know results have not gone well so far but was hoping for some thoughts or input regardless ?

 

VERY early days Hawks - Taunton have been here many times!

We were well aware that the step up would be massive, but the professionalism and physicality of Henley and Juddians was definitely a shock and an enormous wake up call.

What we do have at Sutton is a fantastic pair of coaches, both with international experience, and i'm confident they will address our short term issues and get the best out of the squad.

for those of us privileged to have watched the rugby in this hugely competitive league for a number of years, it is no surprise that the promoted sides struggle. it is a big step up.

the fact that yoir set piece is holding up is a big positive.  should this fail, cricket scores can be the outcome.  as it is, you have a foundation to build upon.  the additional bad news however, is that the physicality can have a dramatic impact in terms of injury over 30 games, so you may need some luck in that area too, as do we all.

best of luck for the rest of the season......a huge game at home to Westcliff coming up ?   

Nick.......it will indeed be a cracking game against Titans, though I expect home advantage to decide it. also, it is possible that your lads may dominate the scrum, which might help.

i am not sure if I will make it to Dry Leas this year but I will do my best....i hate to miss an away win 

 

As to achilles heels.....defence has certainly been a Raiders issue (IMO) for a good while now, though we seem to be improving in small increments.  Neither set of coaches can be impressed by the number of tries conceded, though both sides had outstanding attacking threat and there was some remarkable precision mixed in with a few errors.

also to keep it in context......Titans shipped over 60pts here last year, as did Redruth....so an improvement

 

Dave,

If it is any consolation, Taunton's record against Tonbridge Juddians is P4 W0 D0 L4 F73 A160. I think we have 1 losing & 1 try bonus point, Tonbridge have 4 try bonus points.

Pete

Redruth were worthy winners but the win rather presented to them

Nothing too surprising from Choppers on the day.  they were compact and well organised defensively.  they tackled well from 1-15 and used the strong wind well in the first half.  I think that considering the complete domination of possession and territory in the first half hour (Raiders did not get into their 22), that they may have wondered if their 0-16 lead was enough. 

We fought back well and closed the gap to 2pts, but further errors brought about our downfall.  0-5 seems a bit harsh but it was the right result unfortunately.

Leicester seem to be establishing themselves as a solid mid-table sort of side ?  Maybe better ? so well done to them. it appears a hard place to visit. 

Some touted ESher and OA's as potential promotion candidates.  still very early days but I'm not sure either can match the current top 3.   i will be very surprised if those three are not filling those positions in some order come the finishing line.   that will be a good battle to watch.

Likewise.......our promoted contingent, currently filling the bottom three places.  they have a serious uphill battle to get clear of those bottom positions.  it can be done, but is very difficult.   I suspect OR's will pick up enough points at home to survive again.

 

p

i expect that Titans will be quite pleased with their point at The Slade, while realising that their defence will need to improve a lot if they are to get ahead of either Hawks or TJ's over the whole season. 

TJ's i will see  next week but they look pretty frightening at the mo.   funny that their big issue used to be that they won all their  4-1........well they have fixed that though they still don't seem to score any forwards tries ?

I would be far from surprised to see the top 3 finish as is.....though all probably have the financial wherewithal to recruit further as we go on.  

by contrast......i am less convinced as regards my initial thoughts about the relegation contenders.

Bournemouth have had a tough start as regards fixtures and have an opportunity next week to kickstart their season.  that said....as the SW league reps, history dictates that they will have the hardest job. 

Sutton picked up two useful points at Station Rd and scored 5 tries in the process.  very well s 

done though there may be some doubt now about the general provenance of Clifton after shipping 7 in Leicester last week.

westcliff remain without a win, but have recorded 4 LBPs.   so not a great deal would need to change for them to start winning some games too.

it could, as it usually does, still get very interesting near the bottom of our league.  still, i still find it hard to find a team that might finish lower ?   

injuries play a big part though and often, we see a team go into freefall because of it. 

there are probably at least 3 or 4 teams who could yet be in trouble.  we will see.

more credit to leicester, this is a huge challenge that they have been forced to undertake and so far, they are making an exceptional fist of it,,,,,,the best since Ampthill ?

Best of luck to all and an injury free few weeks ?  my lot are already having problems i think .

I see you have acquired the much traveled mercenary Reuben Norville.  i have watched him many times for a lot of different teams.  He will certainly add to Hawks attacking impact but is not (in my limited opinion) a great defender.

I see elsewhere that many are surprised by Titans shipping so many points at The Slade ?  While I still think that this is the nest Titans side that I personally have seen, it seems at least possible that they have lucked out with both Hawks and TJ's having better sides this year ?

I think Titans shipped 62pts at our place at the back end of last season and 42pts a short while back.  Why would anybody be surprised that (potentially) the best team in the league could score a few more ?

As to what has changed ?   WEll TJ's have been steadily growing and improving as a club these last three years.  Their pack, although lacking in bulk (IMO) is very well drilled and excellent in defence. The typical TJ's modus operandi the last couple of years, was not to lose.  they won a lot of games 4-1.  mostly, they kicked their pens and edged past most teams.  

I think that about two thirds of the way through last season, they realised that their promotion campaign was about to founder, they started chasing TBP's at last.  I think they recorded only 10 TBP's two years ago.......17 last season.  expect 25 or more this year and perhaps, the title to go with it. 

They have a lot of good backs, but the addition of Walsh to use their quick ball is (as they correctly estimated) going to be a big factor in putting a lot of points on anybody if they can get good possession. 

One last point and a repeat of one i made in both of the last two seasons.  I think that next year in Nat1, they need to finally weaponise their pack......a la Rams......the pack is excellent but they don't score tries.  you can get away with that in this league......but better balance may be required ahead.

Oh......and by the way......very well done Rams.....great start to your campaign this year.....can you get second place ?  i hope you enjoyed your outing to The Athletic Ground.....it is an imposing place and in many ways, a nice reflection of your clubs progress 

I was at the Athletic Ground yesterday, first time there. Impressed by the pitch, but infrastructure is looking dated. £18.00 entry is also a bit OTT for Nat 1 I think. 

Richmond are a good, big and quick side. I thought Rams probably deserved a losing BP.

i continue to follow our nat2s  reps with interest as i do each year.  i suspect we will see the city side back in our ranks next year (and maybe Camquins boys too ?).  

do rams have championship aspirations ??  

We've strengthened in a couple of areas and have benefitted from academy loanees from Quins and London Irish, but the real positive has been how well our scrum has held up against some big packs.

Still some enormous tests ahead including this Saturday when we entertain Esher, but i'm confident we're moving in the right direction.

not particularly pleasant viewing conditions, mind you

I was quite surprised that (IMO) Raiders just edged it in the scrum......so this might be a work in progress for TJ's ?  

Chinese Dave will have been a bit disappointed with the Sutton result.  I thought they might take that game quite close ?  

Bournemouth got their first win against fellow strugglers and there is much to do for the lads at the bottom end of the table.

Was anybody at Dry Leas ?  A great draw for the Choppers on the road, but I confess to being surprised that Hawks could not score more than 20pts on the day.   was it very muddy ?  Wet Leas is often more appropriate.

Likewise, i am probably not alone in being surprised that Titans did not win more comfortably at home..

looked like a cracking game though.    Defence a problem again ?  Was Salvi playing ?

Leicester chug on nicely......i look forward to watching them play.

Clifton's early season run continued with a good win at Old Reds.....not an easy place to win at.  heady heights for them in the table now, but with some tougher fixtures ahead.   the 'best of the rest' battle for 4th place will be interesting this year i think.

 

Darth

Julian Salvi was not playing and yes defence was again a problem. I think Salvi can only play when Exeter are not playing. We also miss Jarrod Hayler who got through a lot of work last season in both attack and defence. OA's missed a last kick conversion to tie the game. I was surprised as they had kicked well all game though I'm not sure if it was the same kicker

Pete

Indeed, the TJ's/Henley encounter next week will be a rare old scrap and hard to call.  I too will probably go with a home win, though I will be interested to hear how the scrum battle unfolds.....Hawks are very strong in that area.   how are east grinstead doing these days ? 

Lions however, are a well established top end side from N2, having been at that level (quite successfully) for many, many years now. They are very competent side with lots of experience at this level. It was either a little arrogant for some people from the south assuming that all north sides would struggle - or as I've said they just hadn't thought about the facts.

I always predicted a solid top half finish for Lions and so it will be.

FC Impressed with them so far, as you say they know the ropes

I wasn't being arrogant or "not understanding the situation" - I am well aware that Lions had been in N2N for a long time, initially finishing nearer the bottom and gradually moving upwards with several years near the top. Last season they finished two places clear of the drop zone (yes, I know they were 28 points above the third relegation place) - hence why they may have found life tougher in N2S this year. 

...and 35 points more, they'd have made the play-offs :-)

I did think that the Hawks might win the forward battle but after the draw at home to Redruth last week, i did not foresee a win.  Well done to them and it makes the battle at the top an intriguing one. 

The other result with huge implications was Sutton's away win at Barn Elms.   This is a strange season for Barnes, I have not seen them yet, but they seem to have given a good account of themselves in every game and got a significant W away at Redruth, yet they now replace Sutton in the relegation zone. 

Old Reds and Raiders are also now pulled into this scrap.......maybe Dings too, which will make for an interesting, season long scrap at the other end.  Well done Sutton, maybe Westcliff and Bournemouth will pick up more points and join the fray ? 

Those were certainly two very useful points for Reds away at Molesey Rd, where they look to have given Esher a rare fright   Without those points, they too would be below Sutton.

Another very good result for Leicester on the road, and they seem to be cementing themselves into an upper-midtable position. 

It seems strange (just to me perhaps) to see Clifton in a heady third position.  we will see how that develops in the weeks ahead.  on paper, they seem to have had some luck with their fixture sequence so far ?  the only team in the top 8 that they have played is Leicester, where they recorded their only defeat.  that would seem to suggest that they have a tough run of games coming up in the near future.  

However they are used to the heady heights having played years ago in the old Division Two against the likes of Fylde, London Scottish and Leeds etc. when most of the clubs in the current division were one or two leagues below, which demonstrates how standards have improved. Are Clifton stuck in a time warp or a sleeping giant?

A 2nd Row so every experienced 8 playing 2nd Row

Kemp Price still out - scored a huge number of tries for Raiders

Two number 9s with a 15 playing at 9

Troubles on South Coast I suppose you mean Walsh and McIlwaine leaving for better financial offers elsewhere (can't blame them if the figures my nephew heard about are true!) and the struggles with putting out 2nd XV. I think this would be the most alarming but yes I agree looking at recent results and the upcoming fixtures Worthing are in trouble of being in the bottom 3 at Christmas.

I am sure someone on here will be able to tell us how many sides in bottom 3 at Christmas stay up come the end of April - I think it won't be many!!!

Credit to Westcliff whose forwards carried quite well and whose place kicker punished some of our usual and incredible total of infringements.

Yes, we are still a few players short through injury and we no longer have three Quins DR's to bolster the ranks, but i thought the team on the park yesterday should have won comfortably.  indeed, despite our indiscipline and poor decision making, we still manufactured enough clear overlaps to have scored more than 40pts (imo).   we managed to butcher nearly all of them.

I am loathe to be negative, but would have to agree with others that getting to the end of October without fulfilling a second XV fixture is a very troubling state of affairs for our club.

 

Barring some significant change, i would have to say that both of the sides I saw yesterday will struggle to avoid the drop.

Titans win again but still seem to be shipping points ?  They still need to fix that methinks if they are going to finish above Hawks and TJ's.

  

Worthing have no DR this season? Ooooo that could hurt them as they have always had some stand out Quins players if my memory serves me right

I see Quins boys are at Surrey clubs so maybe Quins have gone closer to 'home'? Quins have always had close links to Esher so maybe Worthing's N2 quota have gone there this year? Maybe Darth or Old Hooker can enlighten us?

All very strange as the Bears are tenants of Clifton and still have their training base there with quite a few years remaining on the lease apparently.

 

I haven't got a problem with DR players if used properly they can be a great benefit to a team but if used to the detriment of the team that's not good ,the reason they are placed with clubs at our level is for their development ,so at times are not as good as home grown players

 

I've never known any team announce the names of DR players as they can change from week to week which club they're registered with as you are under the control of their mother club