A NUMBER of clubs stepped up their preparations for the new rugby season with pre-season fixtures over the weekend. Counties Three Devon South & West side Old Techs played their first warm-up match as they were beaten 33-19 by a strong Saltash II side at the new artificial Foulston Park pitch at Brickfields. They handed … Continue reading
DEVONPORT Services head coach Ben Russell felt there were plenty of positives, despite his side suffering a heavy 53-17 defeat away at much-fancied Taunton Titans on Friday night on their return to National Two West. Services were leading for 33 minutes and were only 17-12 down at the break at Hyde Lane, but Taunton totally … Continue reading
DEVONPORT Services will kick-off their National Two West season tonight when they visit much-fancied Taunton Titans (7.45pm). It is one of the toughest fixtures Services could have asked for as they prepare to taste National League rugby for only the second time in their history. Their first experience came just two years ago, but their … Continue reading
TAVISTOCK Rugby Club will open their delayed pre-season campaign tonight when they make the short trip to Polson Bridge to play Launceston’s second team. The Counties Two Devon outfit have had a relatively quiet summer with not too many changes at Sandy Park. Leigh Puttock is continuing as their head coach, with Martin Budden forwards … Continue reading
DEVONPORT Services and Ivybridge continued their build ups for the new rugby season over the weekend. Services, whose National Two West campaign will start as planned on August 4, played Regional One South West side Launceston away on Friday night and then they sent a squad of second and third team players to play a … Continue reading
IVYBRIDGE and Plymstock Oaks got their pre-season campaigns underway on Thursday evening as they played out a full contact fixture on the artificial pitch at Cross-in-Hand. The new-look Oaks side, featuring many of their big-name summer signings, stormed into a 21-0 lead in the first 25-minute period. But higher league Ivybridge came back in the … Continue reading
DEVONPORT Services head coach Ben Russell was happy with his side’s first pre-season run-out on Thursday evening as they beat old rivals Brixham 35-12 in a full 80-minute contest at Keyham. Services, preparing for a return to National Two West, used 28 players in the competitive fixture with the Fisherman. “It was just what we … Continue reading
TAMAR Saracens and Saltash got their pre-season campaigns underway on Saturday when they played a 60-minute fixture on a bone-dry Parkway pitch. Due to the hardness of the playing surface, the match had to be adapted and so full contact tackling was not allowed, in line with recent RFU guidance. However, both clubs were happy … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
DEVONPORT Services have been handed a tough start to life back in National Two West with matches against much-fancied Taunton Titans and Redruth in their opening two matches. Newly-promoted Services will kick-off their season with a trip up the M5 to play Taunton on September 5 before hosting Cornish side Redruth at the Rectory the … Continue reading