PLYMOUTH Albion have confirmed they will play National Three South West side Hornets in a pre-season match at Brickfields on August 29.

The game will be their final preparation before their opening National One fixture of the 2015/16 campaign against Richmond on September 5.

Albion have also arranged a match for their development team against Hornets’ neighbours Weston-super-Mare, who now play in South West One.

The Weston-super-Mare contest will take place at Brickfields on the same day as Albion host Championship side Bedford Blues on August 22.

Albion have organised a ‘festival of rugby’ for that Saturday, with Plymouth Combination sides Old Techs and Tamar Saracens playing each other in between those two matches.

The Weston-super-Mare game will start at 1.15pm, followed at 3pm by Old Techs against Tamar Saracens, with Albion’s match against Bedford kicking off at 5pm.

Albion’s director of rugby Graham Dawe, whose side will open their pre-season campaign away at Jersey on August 8, believes the extra two fixtures for his side will help him decide on a number of trialists. 

“It’s an opportunity to give people who don’t play in the Jersey and Bedford games a chance to start a match,” he said.

“We have to make some big calls on some players so we need to see them play some games.”

Dawe is likely to give some of the young West Country players who are training with Albion this summer the chance to play against Weston-super-Mare.

Chris Farrell, Ben Stean, Jim Massey, Tom Brown, Mark Grubb, Jack Rouse have joined George de Mendonca, Jordan Shakespeare, Ben Hawley, Luke Mingo, Matt Hanford, Ross Crang, Tom Williams, Danny Goldstone, Curtis Reynolds and Royal Navy players Seti Raumakita and Jarrard Hayler in training with Dawe’s side.

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