WINLESS Devonport Services are boosted by the return of a number of players as their National Two West campaign resumes with a home game against much-fancied Luctonians on Saturday (2.30pm).

Services only had four regular starters in their last match against Clifton two weeks ago – and they lost one of them, Sam Brown, with injury early in the game.

But after a much-needed weekend off, they should have the likes of Lewis Woolaway, Mike Rickard, Liam Jarvis, Shaun Crawford, Charlie Groves, Henry Pickett and James Thorp back in contention.

However, backs Brown, Fergus Wood, Billy Orchard and Harrison Coonick are all likely to be still missing for the tough home game against the team that finished second last season and are currently third in the standings.

“We have got some boys back from Clifton, which is lovely,” said head coach Ben Russell.

“We are certainly going to be stronger this week. But are we at our strongest, no, not even close, but at least we are at home.”

Russell knows this weekend will be another tough test for his side, who lost 75-12 away at Clifton in their last outing.

“After playing Clifton, who had come down from National One and gave us a bit of a hiding, we now have Luctonians, who finished second to Camborne last season and who have already beaten Clifton,” said Russell.

“And they’ve already had their blip as they lost to Loughborough.

“After a team has lost a game they shouldn’t lose, it does focus you as you don’t want to lose another.

“We have reviewed them and we know they are a big team.”

He added: “After Luctonians we will have played all the top six teams and then there are games against teams around us that we need to focus on.”

With Brown and Orchard missing, Henry Clement is likely to start at fly-half, with Ben Whysall staying at number nine.

Services sit second from bottom in the table, with just four bonus points from their opening seven games.

Luctonians are third and have only lost one game so far – surprisingly away at Loughborough Students.

But in their last match they did beat Bournville 73-5 at home.

Luctonians won both matches when the teams met in the 2024-25 season.

They triumphed 12-5 at their place and won 39-21 at the Rectory.

REGIONAL ONE SOUTH WEST

IVYBRIDGE will be expected to keep alive their unbeaten home record when they host bottom side Winscombe in Regional Two South West on Saturday (2pm).

Last season both clubs were battling for a place in the promotion play-offs.

But both sides just missed out after drawing 31-31 in Somerset on the final day of the season.

In the end Ivybridge finished sixth and Winscombe seventh in the table, with Crediton claiming fifth spot – and the final play-off place – on the number of wins.

However, this season Winscombe have yet to win a game, while Ivybridge sit in third spot with only one defeat to their name so far.

“We always fancy ourselves at home, but you don’t know if Winscombe have had players injured or something, so we won’t be taking them lightly,” said Ivybridge head coach Steve Atkinson.

“We ended up with a draw in the final game of last season and we both missed out on the play-offs, with Crediton getting in.

“To be honest, we weren’t really ready for the play-offs. There were four or five games that had we won those we would have been good to go, but we weren’t quite there.

“But we will give it a good push this season. We are in a better position this year.”

Ivybridge are set to name a similar side to the one that beat Crediton away last weekend.

However, Hamish Harris is set to come into the starting line-up, with Joe Owen missing from last week’s team, while Ed Foster and Angus Harris are set to return on the wings.

Ryan Currie could make his home debut for the first team after he was a replacement last weekend, while Scott Puleston is also named on the bench.

COUNTIES ONE WESTERN WEST

DEVONPORT Services II will play only their second home game of the season when they entertain unbeaten Paignton at Keyham on Saturday (2.30pm).

Services II are still looking for their first win since their promotion from level eight, but they are boosted by players returning to their ranks this weekend.

They could also have lock Kyle Felton making his first appearance of the season. He has missed the start of Devonport’s campaign due to having an operation on his thumb and then getting married.

Head coach Ben Russell admits it will be good to have him back to strengthen both the first team and the second.

“He gives us a bit of physicality and work-rate,” said Russell.

Services II know it will not be easy against second-placed Paignton.

“Paignton are a good outfit and they should be up there at the end of the season,” said Russell. “They just missed out last year.

“But our twos should be stronger this week as we’ve got players back.

“And we are hoping for a positive weekend. We are just looking for a positive performance from both teams.”

Paignton have so far beaten St Ives, Torquay Athletic, Saltash and Truro. There first three games were all tight, and they only beat Torquay and Saltash by one point, but they did convincingly see off Truro 74-19 away in their last match.

Saltash are on their travels in Western West this weekend as they make the trip to north Devon to take on Barnstaple II.

Barnstaple II are currently below the Ashes in the standings, but the Devon side have only played three games so far. They drew with Newton Abbot in their last outing but were beaten by Kingsbridge and Cullompton in their other two fixtures.

Saltash have only got one win so far – at Torquay in their last away match – but they have finished within one score in three of their other fixtures.

The Ashes are forced to make a couple of changes to their team from last week’s side that played Truro.

Experienced prop Liall Honey is unavailable so Harry Richardson will come in to start at tight-head, with youth graduate Archie Wood coming on to the bench.

In the backs, Danny Snook is also unavailable and so Andrew Walsh returns to the starting line-up, while Ryan Cruickshanks and Henry Taylor swap positions in the back-three, with the latter moving to full-back from the wing.

COUNTIES TWO DEVON

HIGH-FLYING Plymstock Oaks have been told by their coaching team not to take anything for granted as they visit winless Withycombe on Saturday.

Oaks have a 100 per cent record so far from their opening five matches and are averaging more than 50 points a game.

Withycombe, on the other hand, sit second from bottom with just three try-scoring bonus points to their name from their opening five games, having lost to Brixham II, OPMs, Bideford, Honiton and Topsham II.

“I’ve never been there (to Withycombe) and had an easy game,” said Oaks coach Mike Lewis.

“Even when you are firm favourites, they can be a real nuisance. It’s a bit like going to Crediton, Wadedbridge, Truro, Okehampton and those sort of places.

“I know Withycombe haven’t won yet, but it is a really difficult place to go and we have to be absolutely on point to get through the game without injuries or silly mistakes that would put pressure on us.”

Oaks have had a few niggling injuries in the run up to this weekend’s game and they do not want to take any risks with people at this stage of the season.

“The last thing you want to do is push a player and then they are out for four or six weeks,” said Lewis.

“Going into this phase of the season when its cold and wet, you just need everyone on the park just to boost everyone’s morale more than anything.

“It does seem like a long run into Christmas this year after a longer than expected pre-season.”

Ninth-placed Tavistock will be looking to bounce back from their 59-0 away defeat to Oaks last weekend when they entertain seventh-placed Exmouth II at Sandy Park on Saturday.

“We’ve had a good week at training and the mood has been very positive after a tough game last weekend,” said Tavistock head coach Leigh Puttock.

“We knew how difficult it would be to come away with anything, but what mattered to me was that we didn’t allow that result to become a backward step.

“They (Oaks) are on a very different trajectory to the rest of the league, and we have to accept that. We play them twice and try to take whatever we can from those games. But the principle is the same every Saturday: we have to squeeze every point we can out of every opportunity.

“We certainly have to become a tough team to visit. Tavistock isn’t the easiest place to get to, and we need to make sure it’s an equally difficult place to come and play rugby.”

He added: “There have been some difficult conversations again with players who miss out. That’s a hard part of selection, and we recognise that those lads need rugby.

“We need to keep working to put together second-team fixtures wherever possible, giving players opportunities to play, develop and push for a shirt.

“It’s also ladies’ day at the club, so hopefully we can turn on the style and give everyone something to enjoy.”

Tavistock are boosted by the return of Liam Watts, while forwards coach Martin Budden comes into the pack to bring some more experience along side Hammy Kerswell, Andrew Schuttkacker and Jim Wellard.

OPMs have a long trip to north Devon to take on Bideford, who surprisingly find themselves at the wrong end of the table after finishing second last term.

Bideford have so far only got one win – against Withycombe – however, they have had a tricky start to the season with matches against South Molton, Exeter Saracens, Topsham II and Honiton.

OPMs will travel in confident mood after winning three of their last four games.

They also enjoyed two close matches with Bideford last season.

They drew 15-15 with them at home and were winning away but eventually lost 40-24.

COUNTIES THREE

ALL eyes will be on Weston Mill on Saturday in Devon South & West where Old Techs take on Ivybridge II (2.30pm).

The sides are the only two in the league left with 100 per cent records from their opening five games.

Techs have beaten Torquay II, Paignton II, Kingsbridge II and Dartmouth away and Plymstock Oaks II at home.

Ivybridge have so far seen off Oaks II and Totnes at home and Kingsbridge II, Argaum and Dartmouth away.

“All the boys are well up for it,” said Ivybridge head coach Steve Atkinson. “It’s not going to be the league decider, but it should be a really, really good game.”

Old Techs’ Shaun Bedford-Smith said: “We’re in a position we would have liked to have been in at the start of the season with five from five.

“But we know this is going to be a really hard game.

“Ivybridge are a huge club with a big pool of players to pick from and a successful youth set-up.

“I think we are going to be the underdogs as we are just a one-team club.

“We know what we can do on our day, but it’s just about turning up and making sure we just play the game and not the occasion.”

He added: “I think the players are looking forward to it and are excited about it.

“It’s just nice to be at home after four away games all outside Plymouth.”

Techs should have Jensen Baker, Malvin Dononoe and Jamie Gurnell back available for selection, but Ryan Smith is still missing.

Seb Musgrave and Eden Quantock are set to drop into Ivybridge II’s side after spells in the first team, while Marcus Prout, Ben Winters, Cam Wallace, Al Percival, Luke Martell and Giles Clarke are all set to start at Weston Mill.

Fourth-placed Tamar Saracens will be looking to keep the pressure on the teams at the top as they visit Kingsbridge this weekend.

Sarries have won four out of their five opening matches, including seeing off Paignton II, Torquay II and Plymouth Argaum.

“At the beginning season I thought mid-table would be good,” said Saracens’ Pete Lethbridge.

“But we’ll just take each game as it comes. Anything is a bonus really.

“I think the boys are starting to enjoy it now and are working hard in training.

“Selection has actually been really difficult for the last few weeks as we’ve had so many available.”

Plymouth Argaum are also on their travels this weekend as they visit Totnes.

Argaum got their season back on track last weekend with a 57-5 home victory over Kingsbridge II.

They had opened their campaign well with wins against Salcombe and Paignton II, but then suffered availability issues and were well beaten by Ivybridge II and Sarries.

“Last week’s game was hard to judge where we currently sit,” admitted Argaum head coach Martyn Hendy.

“But I’m pretty confident we can get a win this week – if we can get good availability.”

He added: “They (Totnes) are a bit in between and you don’t know what they might do.

“Bit if we can get the right availability then we will be looking to go there and do a job.”

Argaum have been without influential number eight Ryan McKibbin for a number of games. They do hope to have him back in the next coming weeks, but say they do not want to rush him back too soon.”

There will be a derby match at Horsham Fields where Plymstock Oaks II will host Plympton Victoria.

Oaks II have won their last two matches, while Plym Vic are still looking for their first victory of the season.

“We are six weeks into the season and this is only their second home game,” said Oaks coach Mike Lewis.

“We know you have to give Plym Vic as much credit as you can. We didn’t give them enough credit last year away and we lost. They will keep the ball well and defend like champions and so we just have to stick to our game-plan.

“Hopefully, we get two good results this weekend, but just make sure we do the right things at the right time to make the games a little bit easier.”

In Counties Three Cornwall, Saltash II will host Camborne School of Mines at Moorlands Lane (2.30pm).

They are missing Archie Wood who has been promoted to the first team and Scott Williams, but they have Ewan McLean and Will Hunt back.

PRINCE ROCK RFC PAST PLAYERS’ REUNION

A REUNION is taking place for all past players of Prince Rock Rugby Club at the Hyde Park Social Club on Saturday, November 14.

“If you played for PRRFC or PRRFC Woodland Fort RFC, as the club later became, at any time from its founding in February 1964 until its demise in the early 2000s, please do come along,” said Chalky White.

“It will be a great opportunity to catch up with former team-mates, reminisce about the good old days, and exchange a yarn or two over a pint or two. We look forward to seeing as many former players as possible for what promises to be a memorable evening.”

For more details and information, contact Hugh ‘Chalky’ White on 07976 989 971

Meanwhile, one of the founding members of Prince Rock, Dave Bishop (pictured above right), has sadly passed away.

“Dave was a hugely important figure in the club’s history, and his loss will be deeply felt by all who knew him,” said White.

“Anyone who played with or against Dave, or who served alongside him on the Plymouth Combination during his many years of involvement, is welcome to attend his funeral.”

The service will take place at 11.30am on Friday, November 6, at The Park Crematorium, 205 Merafield Road, Plympton, Plymouth, PL7 1UQ.