DEVONPORT Services head coach Ben Russell is hoping his team can build on last week’s positive performance at Lymm when they host Hinckley at the Rectory on Saturday in National Two West.
Services are still looking for their first win of the season, but they came agonisingly close last week in Cheshire, narrowly losing their third match of the campaign 35-31.
They did pick up two bonus points to move up to 12th, but now they want a victory.
“We need to pick up a win at some point,” said Russell. “We can’t let it go eight games like we did two years ago.
“We were very close last weekend, but we can’t then be rubbish at home. We have to try and win our home games.
“Last week was gutting. We did some lovely stuff in attack, but let in some soft tries.
“We know we can’t be soft against Hinkley because they are much bigger and powerful than Lymm.
“Hinckley finished third last year so they are a good outfit.
“They are well-drilled, run hard and have some nice backs that can finish stuff off, so we just have to make sure we are on it and try to pick up a win.
“It is one of those games that we just have to front up. We just have to make sure we are up for it, look after the ball and take points whenever they are an offer.”
Services are likely to hand a debut to Royal Marine number eight Charlie Crawley, who has joined the club on loan from Plymouth Albion after Shaun Crouch picked up an injury last week.
“Shaun Crouch hurt his knee last week and we are not sure of the prognosis yet,” said Russell.
Harry Pickett and Josh Martin are also missing from last week’s squad, but Devonport are able to welcome back Harrison Coonick, Dan Lilley and Ethan Hilland.
REGIONAL TWO SOUTH WEST
IVYBRIDGE have been handed a tough start to kick-off their 2026-27 Regional Two South West campaign as they host Tiverton at Cross-in-Hand on Saturday (3pm).
Tiverton convincingly finished second in the table last season, but they narrowly missed out on promotion by losing 25-17 away at Chippenham in a play-off decider after overcoming Wadebridge and Crediton in the other rounds.
Ivybridge just missed out on last year’s play-offs. They finished sixth, level on points with fifth-placed Crediton, but had one less win than their mid-Devon rivals.
The Bridgers have kept the majority of their squad from last season.
Prop Will Johnson did move away at the end of last term and Dan Gloyns has joined Brixham, but Ivybridge have signed former Tavistock and University of Plymouth hooker Cam Wallace and veteran Tristan Lark, who was previously Plymouth Albion’s fitness coach. They have also seen more youngsters come through their successful colts side, including Aaron Williams.
Last season they were hit by five of their players, including Harry Newman-Wild and Jack Guyer, going off travelling during the season and number eight Joe Owen picking up an injury.
Head coach Steve Atkinson is hoping the team can build on last season and that they can upset Tiverton on Saturday.
“I think the game could go either way,” said Atkinson. “It will depend on how we start.
“If we start well, I think it will be a really good game.
“I have read that the play-offs this year are only to be for second and third, but I think we should be aiming for a top three finish.
“If we can get one or two more wins away, then I will be pretty happy.
“Obviously, the boys are young and they want to go for promotion, but we spoke after last season and said there were five games were we came within six or seven points and they are the ones we should be winning if we realistically want to be in with a shout of promotion.”
He added: “We have lost a couple but we have one or two lads that went away to uni who are now back.
“We are just a bit light on front-row at the moment as we have four props injured, but it’s not a major concern as other lads are stepping in and doing the job.”
COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST
SALTASH and Devonport Services II both have tough opening day trips to the heartlands of Cornwall in Western West on Saturday.
The Ashes, who survived on the final day of last season, visit newcomers Camborne II, who have claimed back-to-back promotions, while newly-promoted Services II visit Redruth II, who claimed a top six finish last year.
Saltash struggled to find a winning formula at level seven in the first half of last season after three years of running in cricket scores in Counties Two Cornwall. They were bottom of the table for much of the season but finally they did start turning narrow defeats into wins and finished strongly with 22 points from their final six games.
Their 23 bonus points from 22 games also played a major part in them staying up ahead of Plymstock Oaks and Penryn.
They are hopeful that under new head coach Craig Jones they can build on that finish last season and stay up again.
However, they do have some big shoes to fill with top try scorer Will Morton announcing his retirement at the end of last season after scoring an incredible 330 tries in 325 appearances for the Ashes.
Forward Lewis Woolaway has left to join hooker Rob Walsh at higher league Devonport Services, while Lewis Wells, who was player-coach last season, has stepped away for family reasons for a spell and Devon Bennett-Murray, who only made a couple of appearances last season, has joined Launceston.
“Lewis Wells became the father of twins in the summer and has had his hands full, but I’m sure we’ll see him at some point during the season,” said director of rugby Stephen ‘Albert’ Hall.
“We lost Rob Walsh and now Lewis Woolaway to Services, but it is great to see those two involved in their first team. It is good to see players progressing and showing their worth at a higher level.
“Will Morton stepped back, but we’ve got other players in the wings. Greg Eatwell is a phenomenal player and young Henry Taylor is a finisher and he’s not unlike a young Will in the way he plays. Maybe he might be the person to fill those boots and take it on.”
He added: “But we are roughly the same sort of squad with a sprinkling of youngsters.
“We have been getting good numbers at training.
“And we’ve got two squads out this weekend, which is pleasing.”
Saltash know it will not be easy against a Camborne II side, whose first team now play at National One level.
“We have got some new youngsters in, and a couple could be making their debuts for the ones this weekend,” said Hall.
“But we are under no illusion; Camborne are going to be good. They are going to be well-drilled and fit and they have some experienced players. It will be a bit of a learning curve for some of our lads.
“I think whatever we can come away with will be a bonus.
“But it’s the first game of the season for them (Camborne) and we’ll see.
“Finn Jones is back at hooker, and it’s a bonus that we have him as he’s good around the park and a good ball carrier. He also adds a bit of depth to the front-row.
“In the backline young Henry Taylor will probably be making his debut on the wing, replacing Will Morton.
“We are confident we will go and put in a good performance. Whether we will come away with anything from Camborne is another matter, but if you are going to play them, you want to play them at the beginning of the season when everyone is still gelling.
“Maybe they have a few weaknesses we can exploit and hopefully, we can come away with something.
“When you go on the road you always want to try and come away with something, whether it is just a try-scoring bonus point or a losing bonus point.”
Saltash are hoping they can pick up more wins in the first half of the campaign this time around.
“We almost got into a rut last season of nearly there,” said Hall.
“But Craig our head coach always looks at the positive in everything and he will take away work ons.”
Hall admits the goal is for their first team to stay in Western West and for their seconds to push towards the top of Counties Three Cornwall.
“Even though we still have some experienced players in there, overall we are a very young squad,” said Hall.
“But there are players now in the seconds challenging positions, which we didn’t have that in the past.
“Now we are starting to build that squad and some of those young players have been exposed to first team level in the last few weeks in our trial matches.
“The plan is to try and cement our position in the league (Western West) and see if maybe our second team can push for promotion. If they could get into Counties Two it would be a really good place for us to get to as we would be in two competitive leagues, but the firsts have to cement their place in their league first.”
Just five miles away on Saturday, Devonport Services II will be making their debut at level seven when they visit Redruth II.
Redruth’s first team beat Services’ first team 68-33 at the Rectory two weeks ago, and so their second team are hoping to even the score.
Although Services have a much-changed second team from last season, with a number dropping down a division to join Plymstock Oaks, they are able to field a decent squad this weekend, with the likes of Dan Goldstone, Archie Gray and Charlie Over starting.
Goldstone made his comeback after a season out with a replacement appearance for the first team last week.
“We want Dan to find a position,” said Russell. “He’s brilliant and covers quite a lot of positions for us and he’ll start at full-back on Saturday.”
He added: “We knew this season it was going to be tough for both teams – one being at level four and the other at level seven,” said Services head coach Ben Russell.
“But the twos just have to start quicker and better than the ones as otherwise both seasons could end up being long.”
It might be a tough start, but Russell is hoping his team embrace the experience of taking on Redruth II at the Recreation Ground.
“It is a great one to play away from home to start off with.
“We just have to go there with the mind-set to move the ball around and learn from the ones’ mistakes and front up and put their bodies on the line.
“We’ve got three away games in a row, but that’s just the way it has worked out.”
COUNTIES TWO DEVON
PLYMSTOCK Oaks are likely to be big favourites to win the Counties Two Devon title after a busy summer following their surprise relegation from Western West last term.
Oaks were always likely to be challenging for a return to level seven anyway, but during the closed season they have welcomed a host of experienced new players to the club.
Richard West, Matt Neyle, Tyler Busfield, Aiden Taylor, Tom Richards, Al Thomas, Olly Whitfield, Toby Moss and Brandon Bonsor have all arrived from Devonport Services, while Sonny Rowe has joined from OPMs, Lewis Harris and Joey Pook have arrived from Tamar Saracens and George Hamblin has returned after a lengthy spell out with an ACL injury.
But they have been handed a tough start with a match against newly-promoted Brixham II at Horsham Fields on Saturday (4pm).
“I think we are pretty much ready for the start of the season,” said Oaks coach Mike Lewis.
“Our firsts have Brixham IIs at home and the seconds have Paignton IIs away so we have two strong sides to start the season with.
“We are as ready as we can be, but I think everyone will be.”
Lewis knows that people will be looking at them after all their high-profile summer signings.
“We have put all our player signings on social media to try and get a bit of traction, so people know who we are and where we are at,” he said.
“It is one of those things that will either really accelerate us forward and create a real buzz or will hinder us because other teams will raise their game a bit more.
“But like every club, we have to sell ourselves on social media to try and encourage more people to turn up to games and get a bit more excitement and money behind the bar.
“Yeah, we might have signed a lot of players, however, out of those players only four have not been Oaks players before that have just come back. It is nice that they have wanted to come back.
“But every club is just trying to sign as many players as they can to make themselves better.”
He added: “Some of the players we have brought in won’t play every week, but they will be there enough to make sure there is a foundation, a game-plan and some momentum to enable the younger and less experienced lads to be successful.
“Hopefully, we just score more tries than the opposition and win more games – that’s the only goal.
“If you focus on winning the league and you lose the first three games, then you are never going to win the league and your season is over. You have to goal-set in a different way nowadays as otherwise heads go.
“If you focus on short-term goals rather than long-term goals, then you will be more successful.”
Oaks are kicking off their season with a major festival at Horsham Fields.
All their age groups will be playing on the same day and there will also be music, food and other entertainment.
“We have got a thousand people playing rugby and watching – maybe 2,000 if it is a good day and sunny,” said Lewis.
“I think we have got 15 games going on – so that’s 30 teams.”
The festival starts at 11am, with the final games at 5.30pm.
Summer signings Busfield, Rowe, Taylor, Thomas, West, Richards, Bonsor and Moss are all named in Oaks’ starting line-up for their opener against Brixham II.
OPMs and Tavistock will both be aiming for better seasons than last term.
OPMs finished eighth and just pulled clear of the relegation zone with vital wins against Ivybridge II and Topsham II in their final three games.
The Old Boys have changed their head coach over the summer with former Plymouth Albion player Davy McGregor replacing James Digweed.
McGregor was previously head coach at Ivybridge and Tamar Saracens and he’s looking forward to getting back into club rugby.
“I had a successful year with the university last year and the TRI has been doing exceptionally well as well. So, I did get a bit of a bite back and, you know, I could see an opportunity there with OPM,” he said.
“With the right sort of plan in place and with the plans that they have with the grounds, it’s an exciting place to be.
“To be given an opportunity at OPM is brilliant. They have been really accommodating in what I feel the next three or five years could look like.”
In recent years Counties Two Devon has been a bit of a split league with a clear top half and bottom half.
“There’s so much variation and you don’t really know who you’re playing week to week, because of the amount of second teams,” said McGregor.
“One week, you could be playing against guys who are level five or above players
“But I think there’s also a real opportunity because OPM have done very well to recruit from within and not try take players from everyone else. They are very proud of their colts.
“With clubs like OPMs, there’s a true amateur value there that should be celebrated.
“However, the focus for me is to get the mindset changed a little bit. They’re an incredibly sociable and a very true grassroots club, but you can also be aspirational as well.
“I played two or three games in the league last year and apart from Devonport Services II who were a different gravy altogether, there was a lot of games were there was only a score or two in.
“You’re thinking of yourself, maybe with a little bit more focus and a bit of belief that they can go on and win these games.”
McGregor has been delighted with training numbers and that the club have kept the likes of Fred and Matt Smale, although forwards Sonny Rowe and Billy Garratt have moved on to Oaks and Saltash, respectively.
“We lost a few but on Tuesday we had 39 at training and there were also 29 colts,” he said.
“My only challenge is that a lot of the guys have work commitments so there is a lot of inconsistency around availability. That’s something that I just have to manage expectation on.”
OPMs have been handed a tricky start with a trip to Exmouth II on Saturday.
“It’s not an easy start, but you’ve got to play them some time,” said McGregor. “If you can go away and get a win on the first day then it can set you up for when you get back at home, look at Albion.
“Winning and a positive environment breeds success.
“The words I have stayed away from this year is ‘being competitive’. You can be competitive in every game you play, but lose them, so let’s turn it into ‘teams having to beat us’.
“We need to be a hard team to beat. When you are resilient enough that’s when you maybe get that bounce of the ball that maybe you didn’t get in the past.”
Although he did play a couple of games for OPMs last season, McGregor says he does not intend to be pulling on his boots this season.
“I did register just to support the club if we have low numbers,” he said. “But I am not really going to add anything to the squad when there are young guys in there waiting and they are the future.
“I know I could play if needed, but I think it is important that there is a separation between the coach and players. I don’t think a player-coach role works.”
Tavistock just escaped relegation by three points last season, but they are optimistic they can have a better season this term.
They bloodied a lot of youngsters last season and have kept the bulk of their squad together for this coming campaign.
Their biggest issue last term was getting players to travel to away games, but they do not have to worry about that on the opening day as they have been handed a home game against Honiton.
Honiton, though, are likely to be one of the teams challenging at the top again after they finished third last season.
“It’s not an easy one for the first game of the season,” admitted Tavistock head coach Leigh Puttock.
“I think they think they are going to win the league this year and they will have a shout as they are a strong team, so it is going to be a tough one.
“But if we’ve got players back we’ve got a shout as the way we played against North Tawton (in pre-season) was very impressive.”
Puttock says the club have not set any major targets.
“No, we’re just going to take each game, a week at a time,” he said. “Our main target is to be able to put teams together to travel away, because that was our biggest Achilles heel last year.
“We have put a big emphasis on going back to being an old school rugby club. We are going to have a sing-song after a game and we are going to start bringing two cans of beer to every game so we can sit with our opposite number and raise a glass. I think we just need to have a bit more fun after a tough season last year.
Tavistock have signed experienced forward Jim Wellard from Topsham and brought in Glenn Fuller, brother of co-captain Freddie.
“He had other clubs talking to him, but he said he just wanted to come and enjoy his rugby this year with his brother,” said Puttock
“And Jim Wellard’s an old head but you can see his quality. He’s come from Topsham and it will give the young guys in the pack someone to learn off.
“We’ve also got the new seniors (former colts) coming up and some of them are really flourishing and improving. I think the little bit of experience they got last year, will stand them in good stead.”
Wellard does not feature this weekend, but Glenn Fuller does start at centre, with his brother at fly-half.
The backline also includes Liam and Chris Watts, while Tom Brown will make his senior debut at number eight.
“Selection has been particularly tough this week,” said Puttock. “With only three places on the bench, we’ve had to ask some new senior players who are more than capable of playing in fixtures like this to be patient.
“As our numbers grow, we also have an opportunity and a responsibility to push towards a second team.”
He added: “We’re fielding a young, hungry side with a good mix of experience.
“We know the challenge Honiton will bring after they did the double over us last season.
“We’ll need to embrace the defensive work and, when we have the ball, show the patience and intelligence to play in the right areas.”
COUNTIES THREE DEVON SOUTH & WEST
YOU are not likely to get too many people willing to predict who might win Devon South & West this season.
Brixham II ran away with the division last term, but they have been promoted and Dartmouth and Ivybridge II have dropped into the league.
Paignton II, Torquay II, Old Techs and Plymouth Argaum filled the top five places last term and all those will be hoping to be challenging at the top again.
But Tamar Saracens and Plymstock Oaks II have both strengthened their squads, while Salcombe, Totnes, Kingsbridge II and Plympton Victoria could all be surprise packages.
“It is such a tight league,” said Old Techs’ Shaun Bedford-Smith. “Ivybridge II are dropping down but at least Brixham II have gone. They ran away with it last year, but I can’t see anyone doing that this year.”
Techs have finished in the top four for the past two seasons and they have strengthened their squad this summer by bringing in the experienced Frazer Tatchell, Reece Boase and Connor McQueen, plus a host of youngsters, including Ben Mitchell-Evans, who is the son of player-coach Billy Evans.
“We haven’t had anyone leave the club and we’ve had 11 new signings,” said Bedford-Smith.
“We have brought in some experience with Frazer Tatchell, from Sarries, Reece Boase, who was at Sarries for a few years and was at Argaum last year, and with Connor McQueen, who I think is on his third time with us. But it’s good to have him back as he’s a front-row player who can play prop or hooker – and you can never have enough of those.
“But on the flip side we have signed a lot of younger lads as well, including Billy’s son and Dave’s grandson, Ben Mitchell-Evans.”
On their targets for the season, Bedford-Smith said: “We had a third placed finish two years ago and a fourth-placed finish last season. You want to at least be the same or better, but it is such a hard league to predict.
“At this level, work, family commitments, injuries, the travelling, training numbers all make an impact. It is a combination of everything. You can have a really good team, but you need to train together.
“We have signed some experienced players and some younger players – and you have to try and give them some game-time to get experience. You have to juggle the team.”
Techs have been handed a tricky start with a trip to relegated Dartmouth.
“We’ve no idea what we are going to get,” he said. “We know they have been in the league above for a couple of years.
“I suppose everyone wants to start the season at home, but we always seem to end up away a lot.
“It is a tough game to start with as we don’t know what to expect. They could have signed a load of new players.
“We had a couple of good tough pre-season games and I think you need that.”
Plymouth Argaum were another team pushing towards the top last season, but their challenge came unstuck with player availability.
Martyn Hendy has come in as the new head coach at Bickleigh Down, replacing Dean Avery, who had four seasons in charge.
“Dean did a fantastic job for the four years he was there – absolutely outstanding – so I took over a good set of players and we have just worked hard in the summer doing a lot of ball retention stuff and making sure we play with more structure,” said Hendy.
“Having seen us (last week), I think that is coming together really.”
Argaum also have a tricky start to the season with a home match against Salcombe, who were inconsistent last season.
“We have the advantage of being at home and our player availability is looking better and fingers crossed we can put out a decent side against Salcombe and allow us to start the season on the front foot,” said Hendy.
“We have signed quite a lot of new players and if player availability ends up as good as it should be, then we should be aiming to be in the top three.”
Tamar Saracens have also changed their coaching set-up with former Ivybridge player Hayden Coles and Will Wills coming in to join the returning Pete Lethbridge.
They finished seventh last season but hope to improve on that.
“Obviously, last season was a little bit disappointing, with how we fell off a little bit,” said Lethbridge.
“But myself coming back in has helped a little bit and I think Will and Hayden have gelled quite well as well.
“We’ve also got a new committee behind us and we’re all looking forward to a new season.
“We’ve not really set any targets, but I think we’d be happy if we were in the top four or five. Anything after that would be a bonus.
“Numbers have been quite consistent at training the last few weeks.”
Tamar Saracens will open their campaign with a home game against Plympton Victoria, who also have a new coach in the form of Aly Fraser.
“I think we’ve got 26-28 available for this weekend, which is really good, but obviously, there’s going to be a few disappointed faces,” said Lethbridge.
“But we’re looking forward to it and hopefully we’ll get a ‘W’ on Saturday.
“However, it won’t be easy as Plym Vic are a very stubborn side. They always give it their all.”
New Plym Vic coach Fraser is looking forward to getting stuck into coaching.
“Injuries have stopped me playing so I’m looking to go into the coaching side of things,” he said.
“As a coach I want to improve the players individually, get the team to play to their potential, cause a few upsets and just enjoy our rugby.
“The lads have worked really hard in pre-season and it will be nice to get the league campaign up and running.
“We’ve got a few new lads who have joined us and so it should be good fun.”
He added: “We can’t offer money or anything like that, so we are all just doing it for the love of rugby. It is a good family club.
“We don’t expect any easy games, but I don’t expect us to be an easy game for anyone either.”
Ivybridge II will likely be one of the teams challenging after they won the division two years ago.
They will start their campaign with an away game at Kingsbridge II, who have struggled in recent years.
“Who knows what they might be like,” said head coach Steve Atkinson. “They might have brought a few colts up.
“For our twos, the lads want promotion, but realistically we need to be developing lads and getting a few of the younger lads playing a bit more men’s rugby and then see where we go.
“But I am optimistic for the twos. I think they will be okay.”
The Bridgers have named a strong squad for their opening match, which includes Matt Grieveson, Luke Martell, Hamish Harris, Ben Winters and Tristan Lark.
Plymstock Oaks II could also be challenging this season after strengthening their squad with a host of summer signings.
They open their campaign away at Paignton II and have named a side that includes a host of players who have played in the first team.
They also include Ben Hadfield in their team after he returned to rugby and new signing Lew Harris.
In Counties Three Cornwall, Saltash II will open their season with a home game against Redruth Albany.
Billy Garratt will make his debut for the Ashes in that match, while there is also a welcome return for centre Danny Snook after a year out of action due to a serious illness.