Tenth-placed Raiders are aiming to extend their winning streak following back-to-back victories to end January as they host Sevenoaks, who sit 12th in the table with three sides set to go down from the 14-team division at the end of the season.
Oxford Harlequins look doomed as they are 12 points adrift at the bottom, but the four sides directly above them are all fighting for their Level Four lives.
‘There is us, Esher, Sevenoaks, Henley all trying not to be in the bottom three, so the magnitude of this weekend’s game is huge,’ said Guernsey director of rugby Jordan Reynolds.
‘No doubt Sevenoaks will look at it as their big shot against a team in that same predicament as them.
‘Every game is so important and you always get a really tough game against Sevenoaks anyway, but there will be a little bit extra this time – and that has nothing to do with it being Valentine’s Day.
‘It is desperation time for a lot of clubs and we are in that category along with Sevenoaks at the moment.’
After starting 2026 with defeats to the top two sides, Raiders responded with a bonus-point victory over Oxford and followed that up with a vital 19-17 win away at Esher in their most recent outing.
Reynolds emphasised the importance of maintaining that momentum over the next three weeks before their next break.
‘It was good to get Old Albanians and Oundle out of the way early this year because it means we can get into a flow against sides in and around us and that is going to make a huge difference,’ he said.
‘We believe that win against Esher was really character-building for us, but we know we are facing teams just as desperate as we are.
‘There is going to be some pretty exciting rugby over February and March, and that will pave the way for how the season ends up.’
When Raiders went to Sevenoaks back in October, they emerged 45-41 winners having gone into the last couple of minutes with an 18-point advantage, but their head coach warned that, ‘the last result was down to the fact that Sevenoaks play for the full 80 minutes regardless of the scoreline’.
He was pleased to see a dry weather forecast for tomorrow, though, in the hope that his side will be able to move the ball around a bit more than they were able to in January due to the conditions.
Reynolds added that he is able to ‘put a really strong squad out’ despite a couple of absentees, who include John Dawe who is still on international duty in the Rugby Europe Championship, having helped Germany overcome the odds and upset Romania 30-24, who are 13 places above them in the rankings and heading for the Rugby World Cup, last weekend.
Germany face Portugal tomorrow.
‘You are never going to step in someone’s way if they have the chance to play international rugby and as a club we are really proud that Dawesy is playing for Germany and they had a historic win against Romania last weekend,’ Reynolds said.
‘We want to see our players have the opportunity to do great things like that, although it is never ideal to lose a player of that calibre with the big games we have coming up.
‘In saying that, we are able to move Ciaran McGann to inside centre and have Matt Armstrong come in at outside centre. That is a really strong partnership there and you know it is going to be physical against Sevenoaks.’
Raiders against Sevenoaks kicks off at 2pm tomorrow at Footes Lane.
Raiders team
Dunn, Cantle, Dromantas, Hillier, Webb, Creber, Rice, Poullet, Rutledge, Simmonds, Smith, McGann, M Armstrong, A Armstrong, Roberts.
Replacements: Ceillam, Currie, Wrafter, Welch, Boyland.
