TAMAR Saracens have welcomed back some old faces and brought in some new ones as they look to get back to challenging at the top of Counties Three Devon South & West.
Dan Leeson, Marc Cioffi, Pete Lethbridge and Chris McDonald have all returned to the club, while Hayden Coles and Will Wills have arrived at the Parkway.
Cioffi has become Sarries’ chairman, with Leeson returning as vice-chairman and Wayne Dellenty continuing as treasurer.
Wills and Coles will join Lethbridge and McDonald in a new-look coaching team for 2026-27.
Former Ivybridge and Plymstock Oaks back Coles, whose dad was previously in charge at Sarries, will be player-coach at the club.
He is relishing getting stuck into coaching as well as trying to bring some experience to Sarries’ backline.
“I had 15 years as a player but then started to lose a bit of love for rugby, but this is the next step for me to get into coaching and get back in love with the game,” he said.
“Sarries is the club that I originally started at when I was 15 years old when my dad was coaching here.
“It has now gone full circle and got me back into the game.
“It is nice to be involved here again.”
He added: “I will be looking to play as well. It will be good to have that dynamic moving from the training paddock and then being able to transfer that on to the field of play. I think having a coach on the pitch will give us a head-start going into the season.”
Coles is excited about the challenge of trying to help Sarries push on after finishing seventh in Devon South & West last season.
“With the influx of players that we have and with the knowledge in the coaching staff, I do think we have great potential this season,” he said.
“We just want to try and get back that Tamar Saracens spark that was here several seasons ago.”
Fellow new coaching face Wills is also relishing the prospect of trying to help the club rebuild.
He has recently moved to Plymouth, having been in the army since the age of 17.
“I have never been to Saracens before, but my brother-in-law played here and was a member for a long time and other members of my family have played for the club,” he said.
“I am from the South West but I only moved to Plymouth quite recently. I came down to the club with a head full of ideas and with the coaching staff that we have and the players we have, I think we can do well.
“We have had really good numbers at pre-season and we’ve got a good skill-set and good foundations. We are going to try and build on that and try and get up the league.”
Wills, who was born in the South Hams, has got many years of rugby experience behind him in the army.
“I have travelled the world and played rugby all over,” he said. “I have thoroughly enjoyed it and I want to hand over that skill-set to these guys and take them forward.”