Raiders will end year doing the dirty work

Guernsey head to Westcombe Park tomorrow for their final game of 2024 aiming to secure their ninth win from a dozen fixtures so far this campaign, which would guarantee them a top-five place in National Two East heading into the new year, and the coaches are taking a horses-for-courses approach in selecting their match-day squad.

‘We normally go for one prop, one hooker and one back-rower on the bench, but this week because of the high winds and the wet pitch, we have decided to go with three front-rowers on the bench with the aim to give Sam [Steventon] and Martinas [Dromantas] some rest in the middle of the game then get them back on to finish,’ said Guernsey director of rugby Jordan Reynolds, who welcomes back co-captain Lewis Hillier to the second row.

‘We have James Burger to cover the back row, too, so it meant Liam Welch missing out this week, which he is understandably disappointed about, but we have to make selections on theories of how we think the game will pan out and we will see whether it works out.

‘It would be an “old fashioned” game of rugby even without the wind because their pitch was very muddy last week and they’ve had more rain, so with the conditions as they are, whereas you usually have 10-12 scrums in a game, we think it could be anything up to 18 or 19 scrums on Saturday so it is a good idea to give a rest period to those guys and try to remain strong in the set-piece throughout.’

Tom Ceillam is back to start at hooker in place of Phil Le Noury while Jack Colbourne, who switched to flanker from the wing when Josh Poullet was a late withdrawal before the defeat at Sevenoaks a week ago, remains in the back row with Callum Roberts returning at fullback and Anthony Armstrong on the wing.

The illness bug that caused both Poullet and Reynolds to miss the trip to Sevenoaks has struck a few more squad members this week, but the head coach reported that ‘this thing just seems to be a 24-hour bug, so guys are already back fighting fit’.

However, Poullet is being given an early start to his Christmas break as he recovers from a foot issue.

Raiders have already beaten Westcombe Park 37-26 this season at Footes Lane, but Reynolds emphasised that their opponents will be difficult proposition on their home turf and will be confident as they are coming into the contest on the back of two wins so far this month.

Guernsey, on the other hand, are looking to bounce back from their 24-16 defeat at Sevenoaks last weekend.

‘Westcombe Park are just a bigger version of Sevenoaks – they have a very tough pack and they are very direct,’ Reynolds said.

‘Our focus is getting the physicality back into our game. We were disappointed with what we produced last week, but now we have a game under our belt there are no excuses and we just have to commit to our plan.

‘Obviously we were deflated after Sevenoaks and we want to rectify that. It comes down purely to attitude.

‘It will be a successful year if we can get this last win.

‘We hold our standards pretty high now and it would have been great if we could have ended the year at a 10-2 record. The disappointment of last week means we are unable to do that, but getting a last win would be huge for us.

‘Last year we performed really well at Sevenoaks in the last game of 2023 and we were able to use that as a springboard into the new year.’

Guernsey Raiders team

Sam Steventon, Tom Ceillam, Martinas Dromantas, Lewis Hillier, Brad Webb, Jack Colbourne, Matt Creber, Carter Hackett, Dale Rutledge, Charlie Simmonds, Ethan Smith, John Dawe, Ciaran McGann, Anthony Armstrong, Callum Roberts. Replacements: Jamie Dunn, Tom Bray, James Burger, Sam Boyland, Niall McGann.