Thanks for the continued support of players, parents and coaches as we've got the season underway. I've been very impressed with how they boys have developed in terms of style of play and the defensive structure that we've worked on is paying dividends. We've also attracted 6 new players so far this season which is very helpful....and there may be more to come....watch this space.

A challenging month ahead...
Given the level of injuries that we're currently experiencing I think that we've done really well with the resources at hand with a win and a loss for both teams in the league. I have a sense that we need to be very careful with our boys this month - there has been a lot of school and club rugby and it's taken its toll. We've had a number of players returning from injury this week, however it's important not to rush players back too soon. We still have 8 players still out injured.

October will therefore be necessarily quieter from a club matches perspective with a fixture against Upminster 20th October followed by the half term break.

November is a big month with back to back league games against beatable sides on 11/11 and 18/11. Scorpions have last season's County plate champions OA B and Grasshoppers. Hertford A have London Scottish against whom we had a scintillating game that we lost to a last minute try and Finchley.

I expect that will NOT be at 100% for these two fixtures and the coaching team still have to make some calls about distribution of players between the two sides and some players will not be playing in their preferred positions and I need your support to make this happen - please ensure that any questions or problems come directly to me please.

Sending our best wishes to our injured players...would be great if parents could update me/confirm expected return to play dates
1. Ollie Wade- long term injury
2. Riley Church - long term injury
3. Adam Richardson - Early November
4. Toby Sawtell - November
5. George Giblett - early November
6. Tom Donnelly - early November
7. Hayden Wills - 1 week
8. Matt Day - early November

Work-ons
Where we're really in need of improvement is generating forward momentum in our backs. Yes we do have fast boys in the side, but we need to commit more defenders in mid-field to create the space for our wing.

Tackling is becoming an issue, the boys look like they've watched too much Premiership Rugby and seatbelt/choke tackles attempted aren't working. Hertford A missed 8 tackles on 1 player running from his 22 to score under the posts - it just shouldn't happen - all tackle attempts were high and bounced off. Need players to work in pairs more - especially on bigger attackers.

The final work-on is our response as a squad to mistakes, pressure and things not going our way. Team that bicker and moan at each other fall apart under pressure. Team's that have each other's backs get stronger under pressure. Please talk to your son and remind him that no-one is perfect and that cuts both ways.

Proposed Training/Playing Schedule
The schedule below aims to allow adequate rest and preparation time for the November league campaign in order to help everyone plan their lives outside of rugby (apparently some people have them!)

Pitchero notifications have gone out for training, it's really important we know who and how many are coming. We have a number of promising new combinations of players in the two squads and training is where we bed those relationships in. Equally I can't run an effective srummaging session without any front row players.

There will be some additional video sessions that I'd like to schedule in, we'll continue to record matches where possible and we have last season's footage from London Scottish and Finchley to review which should help us plan for the games ahead.

Finally, like the two league fixtures in September, I will try to keep the squads as stable as possible so I'd ask that you please support the coaching team's decisions - which are being made in the interest of the broader squad.

Weds 10/10 is at Hertford - We have Torran MacDougall with us this week 6.30-8pm
Sun 14/10 at Hertford - 10.00-12.00am
Weds 17/10 at Stevenage - (GH @HRFC for Head Coaches meeting) 6.30-8pm
Sun 20/10 at Hertford - matches vs. Upminster all players meet at 9:15am
Weds 24/10 - Training at Hertford 6.30-8pm
Sun 27/10 - Rest day for half term - possible Upminster video playback for both squads.
Weds 31/10 - Rest day - Provisional squads selection published on Pitchero
Sun 4/11 - Hertford need full turnout as key preparation date for back-to-back league games. 10:00-12:00am
Weds 7/11 - Stevenage need full turnout as key preparation date for back-to-back league games. 6.30-8pm
Sun 11/11- League matches both at home (TBC)
Weds 14/11 - Hertford 6.30-8pm
Sun 18/11 - League matches Hertford A at home, Scorpions at Grasshoppers (TBC)