DEVONPORT Services head coach Ben Russell admits his team face a tricky first away trip of the season when they visit Royal Wootton Bassett on Saturday in Regional One South West.
The Wiltshire side finished eighth last term and opened the new campaign with a 25-25 draw away at Forest of Dean outfit Lydney, while Services, who have dropped down from National Two West, got their season underway with a 37-26 home win over Sidmouth.
Russell felt his team were not quite firing on all cylinders last weekend and he knows they will need to be on Saturday to pick up valuable points on their travels.
“This weekend is a tricky one,” admitted Russell.
“But if you do want to be challenging at the end of the year you have to win these type of games.
“The year we won the title we only lost three games – all away to other top four sides. Barnstaple were similar last year; they only lost three.”
He added: “They (Royal Wootton Bassett) are good; they throw the ball around and score points.
“Going to Lydney and getting a draw was very good.
“They pumped Ivybridge by nearly 80 points last year and only lost by one point away at Brixham at the end of last season.
“So, we know they are a good side, especially at home.
“Last week against Sidmouth felt like a pre-season game for us because we hadn’t had that many minutes going into the fixture. Most of the players had only had 50 minutes with teams pulling out and others not wanting to play a full game.”
Services will be without Dan Lilley, who is away with work, while Matt Neyle, who missed most of last season with a knee injury, is also likely to be missing this Saturday after suffering a suspected fractured scaphoid against Sidmouth.
But Services do have Charlie Groves and Shaun Crawford back in the mix after missing last week’s season-opener, while Billy Orchard could also be available, while in the pack Matt Gregory and James McFarlane could come into the starting line-up.
Harrison Coonick did make his return from a year out with a badly broken arm, which required surgery, for Services second team last Saturday.
He scored two tries in Services II’s 26-20 win over Tavistock, but Russell feels he is still a few weeks away from being back to full fitness.
“I think he was absolutely hanging last week,” laughed Russell. “We know he is a ones player, but he needs to get his confidence back.”
REGIONAL TWO SOUTH WEST
IVYBRIDGE are also on their travels for the first time this season when they make the visit to North Petherton in Regional Two South West.
Although the clubs have not played each other for more than a decade in league rugby, they will both know a bit about each other as there is a family link between them.
North Petherton are now coached by Matt Tichias, brother of Ivybridge’s second team coach James and friend of the Bridgers’ first team head coach Steve Atkinson.
“He is one of my good mates and he is brother to our twos head coach, James Tichias,” said Atkinson.
Ivybridge did narrowly lose 30-23 on their last trip to Beggars Brook, back in March 2025, but Atkinson would love his team to return with four or five valuable away points after they opened life back at level six with a last-gasp 35-24 home win over Winscombe.
“We have basically said if we can win all our home games and pick up three or four away wins, then we’ll be really happy,” said Atkinson, who admits that any point is valuable on the road.
But he knows it will not be easy to return with anything from North Petherton, who are known for their good home form and their physical style.
“There are a going to be a few games where the boys are going to really have to front up, but we don’t mind,” said Atkinson. “We have worked on that all pre-season.”
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
PLYMSTOCK Oaks have a tricky first away game in Western West as they make the long trip to north Devon to take on Barnstaple II at Pottington Road.
Oaks opened their season last weekend with a 55-41 home victory over newcomers Torquay Athletic.
But Oaks do have to make a whole host of changes from last Saturday due to injuries.
“The first team and second team both picked up a few injuries last Saturday and we picked up a few more niggly ones during the week,” said coach Mike Lewis. “We have lost nine players.
“For the first away trip, it doesn’t make good reading. However, we still have a good side to travel and still have 20 for the seconds to play against Tamar Saracens, which is a real positive.”
Hookers Robert Hall and Joe Donnelly and backs Corey Jamieson, Lewie Riley, Jack Tweedie and Charlie Watson are among those missing for the trip to Barnstaple, but Pete Keanie, Will Scantlebury, Jake Parkes, Max Ringrose and Jerome Davies are among those set to come into the team.
Oaks did beat Barnstaple II at home last season, but they lost 29-14 away.
“Not that many second teams travel that well but most play well at home,” said Lewis.
“And going away to Barnstaple whether you are playing their first team, second or third team has always been a tough old proposition.”
In the same division, Saltash will begin their home campaign when they host old rivals St Ives at Chapel Field.
With Saltash’s Moorlands Lane pitch still not quite ready, the club had asked clubs that they played in the opening month if they could switch fixtures around.
Newton Abbot agreed last weekend, but St Ives were unable to, so the game will be played on the Ashes’ second team pitch.
Saltash suffered last-gasp frustration at Newton Abbot last Saturday, losing 20-15 after the Devon All Whites scored a try with the last play of the game deep in injury-time.
But the Ashes will have taken a lot of confidence from their performance against a side who were playing in Regional Two South West the season before and with Saltash missing so many key players on the day.
Saltash are able to welcome back front-rowers Simon Nance, Ryan Simmons and Axel Nicks and back Greg Eatwell, but they are missing Lewis Wells, James Moriarty, Ryan Rayner, Jack Mills, Danny Snook and Billy Dover for this weekend’s match against the Saints, who narrowly pipped Saltash for the Counties Two Cornwall title in 2022-23.
Nicks will start in the back-row, with Tom Horban coming in for his first start in the second-row and Lewis Woolaway moving to number eight.
The match will see full-back Ryan Cruickshanks make his 300th appearance for the Ashes.
The last two meetings between the sides could not have been closer, with St Ives winning a Papa Johns Community Cup match 27-26 in 2023, just weeks after the sides had drawn 10-10 in their title decider at Moorlands Lane.
St Ives got their season up and running last weekend with a 20-14 home win over Penryn.
Meanwhile, Saltash’s second team will play Bodmin away in a friendly fixture on Friday night.
COUNTIES TWO DEVON
OPMs are another team with a long away trip as they visit Counties Two Devon new boys Bideford on Saturday.
The north Devon side were relegated from Western West last season and OPMs have not played them for more than 15 years.
Bideford did get their season off to a flying start with an impressive 38-22 away win at Honiton, while OPMs were also opening day winners as they overcame Crediton II 32-28 at home.
“I was a bit surprised by the Bideford match,” admitted OPMs head coach James Digweed. “I was not expecting that against Honiton.
“But we won’t really know what teams are like until we settle into it a bit more.”
He added: “I can’t remember when we last played Bideford. It is just a case of going there and putting into practice what we have been doing in training.
“We had some really good results on the road last year, so we have to go there confident, but we don’t know what to expect.”
Tavistock are also on their travels as they head to the South Hams to take on Dartmouth – a side they have never played before in a competitive league fixture.
Tavistock impressed last weekend in their opening match against much-fancied Devonport Services II, although they lost 26-20, while Dartmouth were beaten 36-20 at home to Withycombe.
“We’ve got games coming up which will test us again, with the little niggles and injuries we are picking up,” said Tavistock head coach Leigh Puttock.
“But it is important now that we go on and get that ‘W’, as the longer you don’t then heads could drop, but there’s no reason why we can’t go on and be real contenders this season.”
After their win over Tavistock last weekend, Devonport Services II have another tough test as they host Exeter Saracens at the Rectory on Saturday.
Exeter Saracens opened their season in style last weekend with a 50-36 home win over South Molton.
Sarries did edge out Services II 34-31 away at the end of last season, but Devonport did beat them 48-14 at home.
Services II are likely to have a similar pack out as they fielded against Tavistock the week before. However, there could be changes in the backs with a number of players returning.
In the same division, Ivybridge II make the long trip to Crediton II.
Both sides were promoted from Counties Three last season and both were beaten last weekend – Ivybridge going down 33-21 at home to Topsham II and Crediton losing 32-28 at OPMs.
COUNTIES THREE
OLD Techs will be looking to prove a point when they make the trip to Torquay Athletic II on Saturday in Counties Three Devon South & West.
Techs were frustrated to lose 29-17 to Paignton II last weekend, in a game were they were 17-5 up at half-time.
They now face another tough test at the Recreation Ground against a Torquay side that beat Plymstock Oaks II 67-15 last weekend.
“I did say before that we had a hard start to the season,” said Techs’ Shaun Bedford-Smith. “But you have to play all the teams at some point.
“It is a tough league this season. We don’t know how all the teams are going to perform, but I think Paignton and Torquay have probably strengthened.
“Last week was very frustrating for us as we were 17-5 up and looked in control. We started well and played some good stuff, but we just lost our way a bit with our game management. But it is nothing that can’t be fixed.
“They (Paignton) scored right at the end with the last play of the game after we were pushing at the other end for a winner.
“We were dominating the scrums all the match, but they somehow got a penalty at a scrum, which they tapped and went right up the other end to score.
“Sometimes it is just not your day and decisions don’t go your way, but we didn’t really play the conditions in the second half and put ourselves under unnecessary pressure.”
Techs are able to welcome back Ollie Davey, Jenson Baker and Phil Flowers this weekend, but they are likely to be missing a few.
“It’s a bit like every week, you might get three back, but have five missing,” said Bedford-Smith.
Plympton Victoria have to face Paignton II this weekend away.
They know it will be tough in South Devon against a team that beat Techs last weekend.
“There are no easy games for us,” laughed Plym Vic chairman Chris Hunt. “We don’t have easy games. We are the easy games, but we will make it as hard as we can for everyone.”
Plym Vic were beaten 44-5 in their opening game away at Plymouth Argaum, who have come down from the league above.
“Our scrum was strong and our line-out was quite well organised and when the lads thought about it, they played some half decent rugby,” said Hunt.
“The result wasn’t unexpected, but we would have liked to have done a bit better and perhaps if we had applied ourselves like we did in the second half the entire match we probably would have done a bit better.”
Argaum have a second consecutive home game to start the season as they host Salcombe at Bickleigh Down on Saturday.
Salcombe beat Kingsbridge II 43-17 in their opening match.
“They are travelling to us and we know it is always harder to get a team when you are on the road,” said Argaum head coach Dean Avery.
“It is a second home game in a row for us so we should have good availability.
“We know Salcombe have got Eoghan Grace who is a good player and they got a win last weekend.
“But we just want to keep winning and see where we end up.”
There is a derby match at Horsham Fields on Saturday where Plymstock Oaks II host Tamar Saracens with both teams looking to get off the mark after defeats last weekend.
Oaks II lost heavily at Torquay, while Sarries were beaten 29-19 away at Totnes.
Both clubs picked up a few injuries last week, but still hope to have strong sides out.
Sarries have won all previous five league meetings between the teams – the last one coming in March 2024 when they triumphed 26-10 at the Parkway.