HIGH-flying Devonport Services will be looking to avoid a potential banana skin in their final game of the year when they travel to eighth-placed St Austell.
Saints have only won four games since their promotion, but they have pushed Services’ title rivals Barnstaple and Chew Valley hard at home and drew away at Brixham.
“It is a tricky one,” admitted Services head coach Ben Russell.
“And I’m sure back in their memories will be that Devonport beat them 18 months ago at to their ground to go up.
“But if we can carry on how we played last weekend this weekend then I think we can do pretty well.
“Last week against Okehampton we scored from everywhere – driving mauls, backline plays and team plays.
“We were pretty good last weekend, but we can’t just do it one weekend and not the other.
“We have got a big six or seven games coming up – this one before Christmas then five or six after.”
Services are set to be without fly-half Richard West, who impressed on his return to the first team last weekend, as he is getting married.
Matt Neyle is also a doubt for the trip to Cornwall, but Freddie Davies is in line to return as is Mark Friend.
Russell expects there to be a decent crowd at Tregorrick Park and St Austell, who boast the likes of former Plymouth Albion stars Matt Shepherd and Kyle Marriott in their squad, will be keen to prove a point after losing 50-24 at the Rectory in September.
Ivybridge have another massive game on their hands when they travel to relegation rivals Matson.
Back-to-back narrow home wins over Weston-super-Mare and Lydney have moved Ivybridge out of the bottom two, but Matson, who dropped below them last week, do have two games in hand.
However, with Ivybridge four points ahead of the Gloucester side, if they could win at Redwell Road on Saturday then the pressure would really be on Matson to win those games in hand against Chew Valley and Exmouth.
Due to postponements, Matson have not played since losing 77-7 at Brixham on November 18.
“I don’t think they have played a game for about a month now,” said Ivybridge head coach Davy McGregor. “So, it is going to be interesting.
“But I do think momentum is everything.”
Although Ivybridge moved out of the bottom two last week, McGregor insists he is not paying much attention to the table.
“I’m not even looking at the table,” he insisted.
“For me it is irrelevant, because if you are not winning it does not make a difference.
“And the minute you start looking and really focusing on where you are then you are just putting extra pressure on.
“For us it is simple – we just have to go out there and try and win games or at least put ourselves in the best position to win games. If you do that the league takes care of itself.”
Ivybridge will be without Marcus Prout, who was sent off last week against Lydney.
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
PLYMSTOCK Albion Oaks will be looking to end a highly-successful 2023 with a home victory over the Pirates Amateurs at Horsham Fields.
A win would guarantee that they end the year at the top of Western West.
However, they will be a bit wary of the inconsistent Pirates, who have won on their last two trips to Plymstock.
The Pirates will go into the game sitting in seventh spot, with six wins and six defeats to their name.
The Penzance-based club have had some big wins, like putting 57 points on Bude last week and 48 points on Bideford in October, but they also lost 63-8 away at Kingsbridge.
Leaders Oaks, meanwhile, are just looking to bounce back from last week’s 19-12 loss at St Ives, where they travelled without the likes of Lewis Paterson, Tom Richards, Corey Jamieson, Ben Turua, Matt Jackson, Jamie Shone and Matt Finn.
“We have the majority of our boys back who were missing when we went down to St Ives,” said head coach Paterson.
“We really had to shuffle it around last week and had people playing out of position. But we didn’t do too bad coming away with a league point.
“As a team that is progressing you sometimes need to be presented with scenarios where you are missing a few key players as that is how other players develop.
“It was a great opportunity for some people to step up, play in different positions and a chance for others to try and get their shirts back.
“This weekend we should be nearly back to the side that beat Kingsbridge, although Tom Richards is still out with a head injury.
“We are at home, but the Pirates have beaten us at home twice and we beat them at their place earlier this season so they will be gunning for a result.
“I think it is dangerous when you are playing a side that appears so inconsistent as you don’t know which team is going to turn up.
“I’m sure they will have some momentum on the back of playing Bude and I’m sure they will be up for some running rugby.
“But we do want to finish this year with a bang and try and get five points in the league and hopefully some more results will go our way in the league again so we can open up a bit more of a gap.”
With second and third placed Tiverton and Kingsbridge meeting and fourth-placed Tavistock hosting fellow top six side Paignton, Oaks do have a chance to pull away from a couple more teams in a tight league.
Tavistock and Paignton played out a thrilling 37-37 draw back in September at Queens Park.
And Tavistock head coach Joel Caddy is hoping for another entertaining contest in the club’s final home league match of the year.
“I think it will be a pretty tough encounter,” said Caddy.
“But I’ve no doubt it will be a pretty enjoyable game as both clubs will be chasing that win.
“I hope that between us we can produce a game of rugby that both sets of fans can applaud regards of who is winning.”
He added: “Paignton are five points behind us but do have a game in hand, however, if we could win it would just put a bit of a gap between us and them.”
Tavistock were a bit frustrated to have to settle for a high-scoring draw with Paignton in September.
“I would like to think we can play better than we did in the first 20 minutes of that game,” said Caddy. “We had a lot of chances then but didn’t take them and it probably cost us the game.”
Tavistock are missing influential captain George Hillson this weekend. He scored 31 points in their 41-39 win at Kingsbridge last Saturday.
Charles Bowden will switch to scrum-half and Hammy Kerswill will skipper the side this weekend in Hillson’s absence.
Caddy says the team have proved before that they can cope without Hillson.
“I think when this happened last year Charles Bowden came in for one of his first games and scored a hat-trick,” said Caddy.
“And it something different that maybe Paignton won’t have planned for.”
Tavistock are also missing fellow back Jack Easton, but do have Joe Burbage, Andrew Schuttkacker, Jack Lewis and Richard Cann back in the squad, while Jack Osborne will make his first start of the season after coming on a replacement last weekend. Freddie Fuller keeps his place at 10 after impressing last weekend, with Andy Yates switching to centre.
COUNTIES TWO
THERE will be a Plymouth derby in Counties Two Devon where leaders Devonport Services II host OPMs at Stonehouse Creek.
Services II moved to the top of the table last week after a last-gasp 24-20 win at struggling North Tawton and with previous leaders Torquay Athletic’s game postponed.
Devonport’s second string are one of the few sides to have played in the last two weeks, whereas OPMs have not taken to the field since narrowly edging past Argaum 22-20 at home on November 18.
However, the Old Boys say they have been training well and are ‘ready for a huge game’.
Services head coach Ben Russell says he expects his second team to be stronger than the one that played last week against North Tawton, although Mark Friend and Kieran Down could be pushing for first team recalls.
When the sides met earlier in the season at King George V Playing Fields, Services II triumphed 28-6.
OPMs do have Plymouth Argaum breathing down their necks.
Argaum are now just a point behind their city rivals, although they have played a game more.
Argaum, whose home game with South Molton was postponed last weekend, have a tough test away at fourth-placed Withycombe on Saturday, who beat them 29-7 at Bickleigh Down in September.
“We are expecting a tough challenge up there,” admitted Argaum head coach Dean Avery.
“But hopefully we can get something from the game, although it’s not a game we have really targeted.
“However, with last week’s game against South Molton called off we certainly would like something from this now.
“North Tawton beat Barnstaple II and only just lost to Devonport Services II last week, so we know they are coming for us and we don’t want to get dragged into that.
“We do have to go away and try and pick something up on the road.”
Argaum will be without a number of players for the trip east, including Owen Gocher, Tom Mann and Darren Ewers.
However, they have been boosted this week by former Devonport Services and Launceston player Eddie McGinley joining them as a backs coach.
Elsewhere in the division, bottom side Ivybridge II, who are now 19 points away from safety, host fifth-placed Exeter Saracens at home.
In Counties Two Cornwall, title-chasing Saltash should have been playing Veor on Saturday, but that match as already been postponed due to an unplayable pitch.
That will be frustrating for the Ashes, who were also left without a game last weekend when Bodmin handed them a walkover.
COUNTIES THREE
SECOND-placed Tamar Saracens are expecting a tough game when they host fifth-placed Salcombe at the Parkway.
Salcombe have been a bit inconsistent this season, but they have won their last three games, including an eye-catching 38-5 victory over third-placed Brixham II last Saturday.
“That result last week will spur them on,” said Saracens head coach Mike Lewis.
“And in the last game before Christmas it should not be hard to get a team out.
“We know what we are up against and we need to make sure we put everything into it.”
He added: “When we went there earlier in the season, they didn’t think they were going to get 15 players out and so I think we played it as a game-on fixture, but they did have 15 players by kick-off and they all gave it their all.
“They were a really resilient bunch and play some good rugby.
“But we just need to keep trying to grind out results.”
Sarries are missing a few again this week. Front-rowers Adam Coutts and Adam Corbett both picked up injuries against Old Techs a couple of weeks ago and are still not fit, while Greg Parrott and Steve Moran are unavailable and Joe McKinley broke his thumb last week. Marc Cioffi and Josh Perkins are doubts and will undergo fitness tests.
Sarries will be hoping that Old Techs can do them a favour when the Weston Mill club make the trip to leaders Dartmouth.
Dartmouth are still unbeaten this season and are seven points clear of Saracens.
Techs have frustrating lost by one single score to top four sides Paignton II, Tamar Saracens and Brixham II in their last three games, but they have been happy with their performances in all those matches.
Dartmouth will probably be a bit wary of them as Techs have quite a good record against them and pushed them hard at the start of the season before losing 22-5.
Plympton Victoria will not be quite sure what to expect when they visit Kingsbridge II on Saturday.
Kingsbridge II do sit below Plym Vic in the table, but that is only because they have forfeited two games.
When they do get a full team out, Kingsbridge II have proved they can match it with the best in the league and beat Plym Vic 50-5 in September.
Plym Vic will be keen to show how much they have progressed since then.
Tavistock II expect to be a lot stronger than in recent weeks when they travel to Paignton II.
They were beaten 101-0 away at Brixham II last week but they will have a number of experienced forwards back this Saturday.
Plymstock Albion Oaks II will be confident of ending the year with a win when they travel to bottom side Totnes.
In Counties Three Cornwall, Saltash II have a crucial game against Roseland at Moorlands Lane.
Saltash II are down in 10th, but they do have a game in hand on eighth-placed Roseland, who are currently seven points ahead of them.