Hugo Culverhouse has rejoined Raiders on loan from National One outfit Tonbridge Juddians and will start in the second row alongside Brad Webb away to Oundle as the green-and-whites complete their back-to-back fixtures against the top two in National Two East to start 2026.
‘We do not have any locks, so we have got him on loan from TJs this month. He will play this week, then hopefully next week and the week after, before the break,’ said Guernsey director of rugby Jordan Reynolds, who continues to be without long-term injury absentee Charlie Wilkinson while Lewis Hillier, who was talked out of retirement to help out, is only available for certain games.
‘On previous occasions when we have brought loan players in, they are new faces and you don’t know what you’re dealing with, but obviously we know Hugo really well, he has got a lot of friends in the group, and it makes things a lot easier because he fits into the puzzle straight away.
‘We know the quality he brings and I think he is really looking to playing with the guys again.
‘He has been in and out of the TJs squad this season, so getting some really good minutes in National Two will be a positive for him and it helps us out, too.’
Culverhouse’s physicality should come in handy for Raiders tomorrow as they visit Oundle for the first time and Reynolds is expecting to find ‘a pitch as muddy as can be’ as they face a side whose style will be far removed from what league leaders Old Albanians brought to Footes Lane a week ago.
‘Oundle are a big side who pretty much play off the scrum and maul and play direct,’ said the Raiders head coach, whose side snatched a 24-21 victory over the same opponents with a late Tom Ceillam try back in September.
‘Probably the biggest difference on that day was that our scrum was on top of theirs and we stopped their driving maul.
‘Oundle had a game where they scored five driving maul tries, so they have got the ability in their forward pack to beat teams regularly – they are littered with ex Championship players – and they are going to be a lot tougher to play at their place.
‘When we played them at ours, we had them on a dry pitch. This weekend the pitch is going to be wet, boggy and quite narrow, so it is going to be more of a attritional game than shifting the ball around.’
The return of Callum Roberts at fullback has also given Reynolds the option of switching his backline around and Tom Teasdale will start at fly-half this week with Charlie Simmonds among the replacements.
‘At the end of the day there is a lot of competition in the backline and a lot of quality players not even in the squad, but we thought we would go with a slight change this week,’ said the coach.
‘I thought Tom played pretty well at fullback last week, but he has been slipping into 10 during games and this is another opportunity for him there.
‘He is probably a little bit more abrasive defensively than “Simmo” and this week we are looking for something a little different with our 10.
‘Also we have to look at the longer term as well and we need guys playing regularly in certain positions. If “Simmo” was to be unavailable, we want to be able to call upon someone with that experience.’
Provisional Raiders team
Wrafter, Ceillam, Currie, Culverhouse, Webb, Welch, Rice, Creber, Rutledge, Teasdale, Smith, Dawe, C McGann, A Armstrong, Roberts.
Replacements: Cantle, Steventon, Dromantas, Simmonds, Boyland.
