DEVONPORT Services and Ivybridge both have crucial away games on Saturday in Regional One South West.
League leaders Services make the short trip to south Devon to take on big rivals and fifth-placed Brixham, while relegation-threatened Ivybridge travel to fellow strugglers St Austell looking for a vital first away win.
Services boosted their title hopes last weekend with a 23-12 home win over fellow high-flyers Barnstaple.
But they will know Brixham will be desperate to beat them and knock them off the top after Devonport overcame them 39-22 at the Rectory at the end of September and beat them in last year’s Devon Senior Cup final.
Brixham have also beaten the other top four sides in the league at home – Chew Valley, Barnstaple and Launceston – so they could complete the set on Saturday and also put themselves back in the running.
“We have got a nice little rivalry going with them,” admitted Services head coach Ben Russell. “Last year we were two and two.
“They have hit a bit of form and they have beaten Barnstaple and Chew at home.
“They have been scoring tries for fun, but our defence is the best in the league.
“I feel they will need to get to 30 points to beat us, but we haven’t conceded more than 20 for a long time, so we would have to have a pretty shocking day in defence.
“But when they are at home they are a different beast and the crowd really get behind them.”
Services did have a shocking day against them away last season when they were beaten 52-13.
“I said to the players after last weekend ‘yeah, we have just performed very well and have beaten Barnstaple, but we can’t go to Brixham and not perform. Remember last year and how they put 50 points on you’,” said Russell.
Services are set to welcome back vice-captain and centre Shaun Crawford, but they are missing winger Toby Knowles.
Meanwhile, ninth-placed Ivybridge will be looking to build on their good home win over Okehampton last weekend when they travel to St Austell, who are just one place and four points above them.
The Bridgers have won three of their last four games and did beat St Austell by a point at the end of September.
“It would be nice to back up last week’s performance,” admitted Ivybridge head coach Davy McGregor.
“We haven’t had an away win yet so that puts a bit of extra pressure on us but it’s good pressure.”
He added: “The way the boys responded last week to the Christmas break was really encouraging.”
He added: “St Austell will be tough at home, especially after they lost last week in a tight fixture, but at the same time, I think momentum might be in our court.”
After this weekend, Ivybridge face a really tough run of fixtures with games against Barnstaple, Brixham, Chew Valley, Services and Exmouth in consecutive fixtures.
McGregor said: “What I have said to the lads is that we just have to set our own in-house goals and take it game by game. That just gives us more achievable targets rather than just looking at the whole season as otherwise you can get engrossed in the fact that we do have some tough fixtures coming up.
“But if we start achieving and ticking off the little goals we have set in-house then we can just concentrate on ourselves.”
He added: “Last week it was the manner of the performance that encouraged me. We have been in positions before where we have let teams back in, but Okehampton didn’t really look like beating us and that’s a nice thing to be able to say afterwards.
“I don’t think it was any coincidence that we had nearly 50 at training last week. I think people are starting to realise there is pressure on the club and it would be a real shame not to achieve what we should be achieving.”
Ivybridge do have to make a number changes to their team that beat Okehampton last weekend.
Jake Winter and Matt Skeemer are missing from the pack, while Tom Scoles and Ben Scott are absent from the backs. Ben Hooper, Alex Garner, Adam Lilley and James Pullan come into the team.
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
LEADERS Plymstock Albion Oaks will be looking to avoid a potential banana skin as they travel to second-from-bottom Wiveliscombe on Saturday.
Oaks have a 10-point lead at the top of the table and Wiveliscombe have only won three games this season.
However, Oaks lost 45-15 on their last visit to the Recreation Ground and their opponents have won their last three games at home.
“It is a horrible pitch and quite a strange place to go,” said Oaks’ head coach Lewis Paterson.
“They are a nice bunch, but it is right in the middle of nowhere.
“In this league, there are a load of teams that could be potential banana skins.
“But we have played everyone now and we know we can beat everyone so that’s a good place to be.”
Tavistock will be looking to return to winning ways after back-to-back defeats either side of Christmas when they host the inconsistent Pirates Amateurs at Sandy Park.
Just one place and four points separate the sides, with Tavistock in sixth on 44 points and the Pirates seventh on 40 points.
The Pirates have found away wins quite hard to come by this season. Their only victories on their travels came in September when they beat Wiveliscombe and Bude away.
They narrowly edged out Tavistock 39-36 in an entertaining match at Mennaye Field at the end of September.
“It’s not bad when our longest losing run is just two games, but it does need to end this week,” said Tavistock head coach Joel Caddy.
“However, we don’t really know what type of team they (the Pirates) might rock up with, but I think it will be a decent game.
“We just have to go out there and play like we can do. We did not do that last week (against St Ives) and we lost that game. We lost that game rather than them beating us.”
Tavistock are able to welcome back forwards Jack Osborne and Joe Burbage to their squad, but they are missing Dan Yeatman and Al Spicer. Freddie Fuller will replace Spicer in the backline.
COUNTIES TWO
PLYMOUTH Argaum head coach Dean Avery is hoping his side can build on their performance against leaders Devonport Services II last weekend when they travel to Exmouth II on Saturday.
Argaum were agonisingly beaten 14-12 by Services II having been leading 12-0 with just 90 seconds to play.
Although Avery described the defeat as ‘absolutely gutting’ he was really encouraged by his side’s display.
“I asked a good performance and got that so we have to take that into Exmouth,” he said.
“Hopefully, we can travel strongly and can pick up some sort of points and we can start climbing the table.”
Argaum lie third from bottom, nine points clear of second-from-bottom North Tawton, who do have a game in hand.
The Bickleigh Down-based club are still looking for their first away win.
Exmouth II have been a bit inconsistent this season. They did beat Argaum 38-19 at Bickleigh Down in September, but they did lose 27-0 last week at OPMs and North Tawton pushed them hard before Christmas.
Argaum will be without Owen Goucher this week and also picked up a few injuries last week. However, they are hoping to maybe have Billy Stockwell and Jake Turfrey back.
Ninth-placed OPMs are also on their travels this weekend. They face a tough away game at title-chasing Torquay Athletic.
And the Old Boys will head to the Recreation Ground without their captain Billy Garratt, who suffered a nasty injury last week in their win over Exmouth II.
The experienced forward ended up going to hospital where it was found he has broken a couple of ribs, suffered a slight fracture to his sternum and torn cartilage in his rib cage. He is likely to be out for a while.
Torquay do have a formidable home record this season. They have won all seven of their games there and scored 420 points and only conceded 43.
But OPMs did push them quite hard at King George V Playing Fields earlier in the season before losing 29-12.
Counties Two Devon leaders Devonport Services II are expecting a tough test against second-placed Barnstaple II at the Rectory.
The two clubs’ first teams only clashed at the same venue in a top-of-the-table clash last weekend in Regional One South West, which Services won.
“After last weekend and Barnstaple losing to our ones I think their twos are going to come with everything,” said Services head coach Ben Russell.
“We are missing a few boys. We are nowhere near as strong as we have had out this year but we are at home and I will expect us to fight all the way.”
Matt Richards is missing for Services after he got knocked out last weekend, while second-row Kyle Felton is also missing, but Devonport should have Ben Callard back from playing for the Navy U23s.
Bottom side Ivybridge II have to make the trip to east Devon to play Honiton. It should have been a home game for the Bridgers but as they did not travel to Honiton earlier in the season the fixture has been reserved.
In Counties Two Cornwall, title-chasing Saltash have a big home game when they host third-placed Perranporth, who have been the surprise package after coming into the league.
Perranporth have won 10 of their 14 games and are averaging more than 40 points per match. They are only nine points behind second-placed Saltash, although they have played a game more.
The Ashes certainly will not be taking them lightly, although when the sides met earlier in the season the Saltash-based club did win 39-18.
Saltash stick with a similar team to the one which beat Camborne School of Mines last week, although Danny Snook returns in the backs with Tom Hollyman dropping out. Billy Dover returns to fly-half, with Lewis Stuart switching to the wing. The pack is the same as last week.
COUNTIES THREE
SECOND-placed Tamar Saracens say they are relishing the prospect of a big home match against third-placed Brixham II at the Parkway on Saturday.
Just three points separate the sides so if Brixham II were to win then they could leap-frog over Sarries.
“They are really on our tails so it is another huge game,” said Tamar Saracens head coach Mike Lewis.
“We have a reasonable side out this weekend and we are excited as there is a challenge to be had.
“We played some really good rugby last week against a reasonably strong Torquay side, so we are hoping to continue that.
“We are at home and we have a VPs, old boys and sponsors day so we should have a fair old crowd down there.
“It is a game we have to look forward to.”
He added: “We can’t really focus too much on the league table and trying to chase Dartmouth as if we do that we won’t go very far. We just have to do what we can do. It’s the old cliché of just taking each week as it comes.”
Plympton Victoria have to make the tough trip to unbeaten leaders Dartmouth on Saturday.
Plym Vic did not get the start to 2024 that they would have hoped for, losing 48-0 to Paignton II last weekend.
They know it might be even harder this weekend, but are just looking for a better performance.
“We did not help ourselves last week,” said chairman Chris Hunt. “We were not at the races in the first half. If we had, then it could have been a far more reasonable scoreline.
“We know again this week is going to be a challenge. We know it is going to be a hard game as Dartmouth are not at the top of the league unbeaten for no reason.
“We just have to go up there and see what happens. We just have to play our rugby and try and keep improving.”
Plym Vic did make Dartmouth work really hard for a 26-0 win at St Mary’s earlier in the season and so they know the league leaders will not be underestimating them this weekend.
Old Techs will be hoping to play their first game of 2024 on Saturday with a fixture away at bottom side Totnes.
Techs were left without a match last weekend when Plymstock Albion Oaks II handed them a home walkover.
They will make the trip to Totnes boosted by the arrival of a host of new signings.
Having signed Dion Todd from Oaks before Christmas, they have since added forward Dale Thompson from Saltash, Royal Navy recruit Graint Vaughan, Welshman Jack Johnson, who has recently moved to the area, young prop Luca Manuell, who used to play junior rugby at Plymstock before giving up the game, and Joe Cartwright, a winger who is from Plymouth but who has been working and playing in the Portsmouth area.
“It’s good to have new players and they are all good signings,” said Techs’ Shaun Bedford-Smith.
Although Techs will be favourites to beat winless Totnes, they know they cannot take anything for granted.
“I think they have got a VPs day or something and they have the league secretary and I think the Devon president or someone is coming as I think they got the team of the month so that might mean they have a strong team out.
“The worst thing we could do is to take them lightly. They ran Kingsbridge II close and then Kingsbridge beat Salcombe.
“We have had loads and loads of battles with Totnes over the years and it is always a hard place to go and they never give up.
“If you go up there just thinking you are going to win then you will come unstuck.
“We just have to make sure we play to our patterns and make sure we don’t have an off-day.”
In the same division, Plymstock Albion Oaks II will host Tavistock II at Horsham Fields, while in Counties Three Cornwall, Saltash II will travel to Falmouth II.