Canterbury challenge carries a big reward for Raiders
Raiders have the chance to climb back into the top four of National Two East tomorrow – if they beat both Canterbury and the weather.
Guernsey’s 40-14 win over Havant was one of only three games to go ahead in the division last weekend due to the cold snap in England – the upshot being that Raiders closed within three points of tomorrow’s hosts – and temperatures are forecast to drop below freezing again tonight in Kent.
But Jordan Reynolds is only interested in controlling the controllables and he will have his squad primed and ready to go in the belief that the game will go ahead, knowing that there is the potential of a big reward.
‘Winning a game like this and climbing above them in the table would be huge – but a loss could put us below Bury St Edmunds, so there are incentives both ways,’ said the Guernsey director of rugby ahead of the fourth-versus-fifth clash.
‘Canterbury will now be four weeks without a game and we know how that feels, so starting strongly against them will be massive. We want to come out of the blocks fast and set a marker.’
Canterbury, who were due to start 2025 against Worthing last week before their game was postponed, have won 10 of their 14 games so far this season including their last three.
One of their four losses came at Footes Lane in September when Raiders emerged 41-23 victors.
‘Canterbury are a quality side and when we played them at home, that was probably one of the best performances I have seen from a Raiders squad ever,’ Reynolds said.
‘Heading away to Canterbury is going to be challenging, although one of the good aspects to playing against them is they are a very structured side and we tend to perform best against structured sides as there is no real unknown.’
Reynolds has delayed naming his side as he waits on several fitness tests, largely due to knee ‘niggles’ for three or four squad members.
He added, though, that Raiders will take confidence from last week’s performance.
‘We felt we performed fairly well. Although we know there are things we have to build on and develop, we are heading in the right direction,’ said Reynolds.
‘In the second half Havant only got into our red zone on one occasion, and that was from our line-out throw which we mucked up, whereas we probably missed three of four good opportunities, so I’m not sure that the scoreline really reflected what happened in the game, but it is always a lot easier going into a game like Canterbury having that confidence from the week before.
‘Things will probably step up a lot more this week, though, due to the difference in where the opposition are in the league and the fact we have to play away.’
