Match Preview

Just a quick note of house keeping, this fixture is now an away fixture to Alresford RFC. Thankfully the boys from Alresford RFC agreed to the switch, as this weekend the Sandown & Shanklin Clubhouse is hosting a wedding.

Off the back of their first loss of the 2017-18 season to Bognor RFC, the Hurricanes will be looking to get back to winning ways as soon as possible, ahead of the Isle of Wight game the following week.
Newly promoted Alresford have held their own in Hampshire 1 so far, picking up a season opening victory over our Wootton based rivals, and running recently relegated Millbrook RFC close, and also newly promoted Overton RFC to edge.
Being on their home patch they will fancy their chances to put one over on the Hurricanes, and help edge them towards the middle of the table before Winter takes hold of the season.

The Hurricanes, are licking their wounds following the defeat to Bognor last weekend. A well organised and efficient opposition put the Sandown boys to the sword. Despite being kept to zero on the scoreboard, the Hurricanes were a threat in the game, however struggled to convert periods of pressure into any meaningful points.
Sandown & Shanklin 1st XV Captain Sam Rees had this to say ahead of the Alresford fixture:
"It is going to be a tough week in training this week. We were in the game for the first 30 minutes or so against Bognor, yet we could not break through a very organised out fit. Having been relegated they are looking for a quick return and the quality of the game was a London South West 3 fixture, something that we have the capability of playing at, but we need to work hard to play that consistently and challenge the likes of Millbrook and Bognor.
There are a few casualties from a physical game last weekend. Ben Harvey has picked up a knock and is unavailable, and likewise Adam Tyas is struggling with an injury. There are also a few lads that cannot make it, as they had based this fixture on being a home game. Although, training has been of a really high standard as of late and with some new lads turning up, we could be handing a few more debuts out this weekend".