Ahead of this week’s big match I took the opportunity of catching up with 1st XV coach Chris Wilkins to get his views on the start to the season and this week’s opposition London Irish Wild Geese:

Season so far…
Two games in and two victories, some would say the perfect start. But after seeing off the challenge of Bury St Edmunds and Westcliff in the last two weeks Chris sees still further room for improvement “It has been a solid start to the season with a couple of hard fought wins against Bury St Edmunds (home) and Westcliff (away). Both matches have been very tough and potentially could have gone either way, but Malcs and I have been impressed by the way the lads have stuck at it and got stronger as the games went on. Last week we started slowly and perhaps lacked the intensity of the previous week, but we were pleased with the lineout and breakdown work , which enabled us to create a few chances and gave us the necessary possession to score a couple of well taken tries. The defence and place kicking of George Montgomery played a big part in a tight game and it was a game we did well to win, especially after being 10-3 down at half time.”

The need for strength in depth…
Last week highlighted the need for squad strength with both sides succumbing to a number of injuries, particularly in the front row, something recognised by Chris “We are well aware how tough the season is and also how we need to develop as a squad to do well, so it has been encouraging to see that the attitude and team spirit of the lads has been excellent and everyone is enjoying their rugby. It has also been good to see the 2nd XV start the season well with a couple of wins and we are very keen to develop more depth and provide a good quality of Rugby for young local lads, who could be future 1st XV players in the future . Dan Buckland has had an excellent start as 2nd XV coach and is doing a great job.”

On the opposition…
London Irish Wild Geese are the visitors this weekend and have themselves had two very close games against Chichester, where they came off on the worse end of a 21-16 a score line, and Barnes where they won 26-16 a fact recognised by Chris “We are playing a quality, well coached London Irish Wildgeese side , who have a lot of potential so it should be a good tough match .”

And finally…
Chris acknowledges the difference that a large and vocal crowd can make “Please cheer the lads on as much as you can – it really does help and thanks a lot for your support.”

So, if you are not playing, come on down and enjoy the atmosphere. With any luck we’ll be celebrating another victory come Saturday evening when hopefully you will stay on and support our very own Stu Harrington and his band “Sunday Roast” and sing/dance the night away.

Come on you G’s