Despite the late defeat at Sale last Saturday, OEs picked up two losing bonus points which moved them up to second place in the table on points difference behind Chinnor. Such is the wide open nature of National One, the top 12 sides are separated by just five points going into week seven of the campaign.

Elthamians face a Loughborough side currently bottom and still searching for their first victory. However, the Students caused plenty of problems for Gavin Lach’s men in the two fixtures last season - it needed a late Tom White penalty to fend off a storming Loughborough fightback the last two time the two teams met in January.

Elthamians pair Nathan Morris and George Messum (pictured) will reach personal landmarks for the club tomorrow when they make their 50th league appearance in the blue and gold shirts. It will be a particularly special moment for Messum reaching the half century against his former club, but he is well aware of the threat Loughborough pose. “The personal accolades are nice to think about when you have time to reflect after you finish playing,” he said. “But for now it is focusing on what we can do today and Loughborough will be a tough game. They will play high tempo rugby for the entire 80 minutes. So we will have to perform for the whole game.

“Obviously our injury list is higher at the moment compared to recent seasons, but I’m confident that every player at their best can add significant value to the team. Our challenge is to be more consistent for longer periods both individually and collectively.”

Messum has nothing but positive memories of his time at Loughborough. “I think the competitive environment was one of the best things I took from my time at the University,” he said. “It certainly set me up after graduating because to succeed amongst so many you have to be resilient and demonstrate your work ethic to realise your objectives. A lot of the players I have played with there have excelled in their chosen fields and this is born out of that environment within the club. As rugby is such a small world, you are never too far away from running into a former alumni.”

It’s been a mixed start to the new campaign for the powerful flanker. After being an ever present in the starting line-up last season, he has been used sparingly as an impact player off the bench until making his first start in the victory over Birmingham Moseley two weeks ago in the second row.

“All players at OEs aspire to be in the starting line-up,” he said, “and this is needed to drive our individual and collective standards. It helps that Ben, Hamish and Harry are some of the best blokes I’ve met in and out of rugby! So my initial disappointment in those first few games quickly transitioned to how best prepare them and the squad on a Saturday and ensure I add value to the hard work they have started in those games.

“The coaches say to all players to keep performing and there will be opportunities. It is up to the players to then seize those opportunities.”

Messum lined up in his favoured No.6 shirt for the first time in the defeat at Sale, a loss that came through committing too many individual errors, according to the flanker. “The overarching feeling was frustration,” he admitted. “The coaches set a defensive and offensive game plan that was completely spot on, which showed with the number of tries and line breaks we made. We didn’t however individually buy into the defensive system which we know can work against multi-phase playing sides. So any of the tries we conceded were because of our errors on the day.

He added: “I think the game served as a reminder that if one part of our game is not functioning, the total performance will be affected. Our fitness has been as good as I have seen in any team, so we were able to cope with the higher ball in play time. The smaller technical details put our systems under greater pressure, which gave them more opportunities to capitalise on.

“We’ve addressed the errors we made at Sale this week in training with the intensity of the sessions. Now it is a case of buying into the game plan in all facets to achieve the result.”

Elthamians v Loughborough Students kicks off at 2.30pm at College Meadow.

PLEASE NOTE: The Extra 1st XV game against Barnes 2nds at College Meadow is now a 1.30p kick-off.

OLD ELTHAMIANS LINE-UP
1 Stefan NORTH
2 Nathan MORRIS
3 Kieron SCUTT
4 Fred HOSKING
5 Michael KOVACIC
6 George MESSUM
7 Harry LEDGER
8 Ben KING (C)
9 Ollie CLAXTON
10 Tom WHITE
11 Ben HOWARD
12 Kieran MOFFAT
13 James GOLLEDGE
14 Aaron GRANDIDIER
15 James MOFFAT

REPLACEMENTS
16 Luke MURPHY-WOOLDRIDGE
17 Callum LYNCH
18 Hamish BARTON
19 Rhys MORGAN
20 Charlie DOCKERY