Weather likely to dictate game-plan as Raiders visit Dorking

Guernsey are due to be back on the road to take on Dorking, who overtook them in the table a fortnight ago when Jordan Reynolds’ side suffered only their second defeat of the season at Henley.

Dorking are on a terrific run of their own, having won their last nine games having begun the campaign with a defeat at Tonbridge Juddians, who are the only side above these two in the table.

‘Dorking have been solid for the last two years and have progressed pretty well,’ said Guernsey director of rugby Reynolds.

• Watch the tries from Guernsey’s win over Oxford Harlequins last weekend

‘They only lost their first game and they have had a couple of close games they have come through since then.

‘They are a quality outfit and will have home advantage, which can make a huge difference.’

Reynolds had yet to finalise his travelling squad while he gives a couple of players the chance to recover from knocks, but his intention is to stick with much the same team who beat Oxford Harlequins last weekend.

‘Looking at the forecast, it will be tough conditions for sure and that will mean a very physical game, a day of big collisions and it could be a case of who has the best kicking game. We will have to simplify what we do,’ he said, while adding that his side will respect their hosts, but not fear them.

‘We have had only one poor performance, which was against Henley, but even in other games when we haven’t quite fired on all cylinders, we have still outperformed ourselves from the season before and we are still scoring five-plus tries in games.

‘There is still so much more in the tank that we have to offer, which is great, and that’s something other sides might need to be wary of – a Guernsey side winning games that has not got into top gear can be a real threat to anyone.’