Rice makes captaincy debut against Henley
DOM RICE will lead Raiders into the new year.
With Lewis Hillier unavailable, flanker Rice will captain Guernsey for the first time against Henley Hawks tomorrow at Footes Lane while the side will be under the guidance of coach Malcolm Barnes in the absence of director of rugby Jordan Reynolds, who returns from holiday in his native Australia next week.
‘It is a big occasion for Dom,’ said Barnes.
‘He deserves it, he has been in the leadership group for the last couple of years since he returned from university and this is a good opportunity to grow a little bit further and he is looking forward to it.’
The three-week festive break has helped Raiders gets some important players back to fitness with Owen Thomas and Callum Roberts returning to the starting XV and Luke Sayer is among the replacements.
‘The backline is looking a lot stronger with them back – it also means I have not had to pick myself, so it has freed up a bit more of my time to coach,’ said Barnes with a chuckle.
However, the recent wet weather has restricted the squad in their preparations as the club pitch at Footes Lane is waterlogged.
They managed to secure the Memorial Field for training earlier this week and last night they were due to use a section of the main Footes Lane pitch for their final run through ahead of facing a Henley side who are two places above Raiders in National Two East and beat them 28-24 in a thriller in September.
‘Henley will want to start the new year pretty hard. They have got a strong ball-carrying prop, a good seven and a good fullback and they will want to come and take the game to us,’ Barnes said.
‘But our idea will be to start a lot more physical than we did against Barnes [in the last game], come out of the blocks a lot quicker and dominate them in the contact area to get on the front foot.
‘It looks like it might dry up a little bit, so that might help us play some good rugby.’
• Guernsey Raiders v Henley Hawks kicks off at 3pm on Saturday at Footes Lane.
