Regnard blow for Greens

JAMES REGNARD is the high profile absentee as Guernsey resume their London Four South-West title quest tomorrow. The influential back-rower will miss the visit of lowly Southampton to Foote's Lane because he is on holiday in America, although Dave Willis is a more than adequate replacement at flanker for the unbeaten league leaders.

'Dave will make a difference because he is just so quick to rucks and that is one of the things we have been a bit weak on,' said captain Carl Johnson.

'Although he is not a big ball carrier like Jim, he gets through a lot of work and will make 35-40 tackles in a game. We still have Matt Morgan as a ball carrier, so it should be a strong team.'

Southampton are one of three clubs on four points at the bottom of the league. Earlier this season, they lost 29-12 to the Sarnians.

Johnson expects the visitors to keep the ball tight.

'Southampton have got a pretty big pack,' he said. 'They have a guy in the second row who is about 6ft 10in. and their props are around 20st.

'They like to tuck the ball up their jumper and run it at you. They also have quite a quick winger and after a while they look to kick the ball out wide to utilise that.

'But if we can get our set pieces working, we should put ourselves in a good position to win the match.'

The Guernsey skipper admitted that he expected his side to be 'pretty rusty' as this is their first match since 11 December.

As for the rest of the season, Johnson called it a 'big ask' to remain unbeaten throughout because injuries and absentees will play a big part.

'We have been lucky with injuries so far. Only Darren Jones has had a serious one and we have been able to rest him fully. He is now fit again and will be on the bench for this game,' he said.

'One good thing is that we have got a lot of home games left and only three away - Old Reigatian, KCS and Old Paulines. But we are four points clear of Old Reigatian so we have got a very small buffer there and I would be very surprised if they drop a game before we meet them again because they have the best defence in the league.

'It really is a case of persevering as we are to get to the last two games, which I expect the season to come down to.'