Match Preview

What a fantastic weekend of rugby we enjoyed last week, the Saints were in imperious form with an eleven try romp against Teignmouth. The Sinners were involved in a humdinger at Veor and having raced into a 26-5 lead finally succumbing to a brilliant comeback from the home side in a nail-biting finish. Disappointment perhaps but proof that our Sinners can compete at this level after two great performances in their opening fixtures against two of the three predicted league front runners. The feeling is that first league win is just around the corner and might even come this Saturday when they travel to Camborne School of Mines. The highlight of last Saturday was undoubtedly the return of third team rugby for the first time in nearly 25 years! The St Austell Spartans made the short trip to Clifden Park to play Bodmin IIs in a friendly and return home victorious with 29-14 win.

This season the Club has over sixty registered players and numbers at training exceed forty every Tuesday and Thursday. We have been trying to get a fixture for the last couple of weeks so we are grateful to our friends at Bodmin RFC who helped us to take this bold step to launch the Spartans and bring back third team rugby to St Austell RFC. If we can sustain these numbers our aim will be to pick up more fixtures throughout the season to provide playing opportunities for a broad group of players. Any players wanting to play occasional fun based social rugby please get in touch!

So how on earth do we follow all that in Round 4 of the season? How about an early season top of the table clash against Wellington!! While it may be a little premature to talk about pacesetters after just three games but there is a fabulous game in prospect this weekend with first placed Saints taking on second placed Wellington. Both sides are unbeaten so far and are tied at the top on 14 points along with Devon rivals Crediton. The Saints and Wellington are the two highest points scorers in the league having both broken the 100-point barrier already, in fact the only thing that separates the two sides at the moment is our better defensive record.

Over the last decade we have enjoyed a great rivalry with our friends from Somerset with the two clubs regularly vying with each other for the top spots in the old Western Counties and South West One. The early signs are that this rivalry is set to continue in the inaugural Regional 2 South West this season and this Saturday’s will certainly provide the Saints with their biggest test of the season so far.
Welly got their season off to a great start with a hard fought 20-11 win against local rivals Bridgwater & Albion at home. In Round 2 Welly came out on top in a high scoring bonanza at Teignmouth which saw them withstand a late rally from the home side to win 39-31. Last week they welcomed Chard to Corams Lane for another Somerset derby putting in what looks like their best performance of the season so far winning 41-23.

The early season high scoring form of both sides suggests we could have a classic on our hands between these two great rivals. The attacking prowess of both sides mean they are capable of scoring from any part of the field or phase of play. That will place pressure on defensive systems to keep two potent attacks at bay whenever the opposition have possession. Past encounters have often been tight well-matched affairs and I suspect this one will be no different. The result is likely to be shaded by the side who performs best when without the ball.

A brilliant game is in prospect, sponsored by Atlantic Laundry, and I hope as many of you as possible can make it to Tregorrick.

Please enjoy the game, there is a lot riding on it so I am sure it will be a passionate affair, whatever the outcome please always respect the match officials and opposition.

Yours in Rugby

Haysey

In Other News

Pre-match lunches are available to book.

We are now taking bookings for the first tranche of games up to Christmas:

• 15/10/2022 Truro (SOLD OUT)
• 29/10/2022 Bridgewater & Albion
• 12/11/2022 Crediton
• 03/12/2022 Sherborne

It’s a great way to start off your rugby match day experience and we can accommodate any size group or singles but please act quickly if you are interested as the seats are selling fast!

Please email rugby.events@staustellrfc.co.uk or call 01726 76430 (staff in 0900-1500 most week days or leave a clear message and they will call you back). More info on the lunches is HERE

Frosties Ruck ‘n’ Maul Food and Drink Outlet

Frosties Ruck 'n' Maul is now a proper outside food and drink outlet. No more trekking up and down the steps balancing pints with 3 bags of port scratchings gripped in your teeth! Instead, you can walk a few yards to the Ruch 'n' Maul and get alcoholic or soft drinks plus burgers, dogs, cheesy chips etc. at great prices. Arrive hungry and fill up from Frosties!

Smoking in the Stands or on the Balcony – A Gentle Reminder

Please can those of you that do smoke remember that the stands at all times during game days and the balcony (and under it) for the duration of the game are both no smoking areas. When you want to smoke up, please go to either end of the stands (the other side of the end walls) where receptacles are provided for the butts. Thanks in advance!

Volunteers

We never have enough of them, and we value immensely the ones that do step up. Al Cummins is the Supporters Club Director and volunteer coordinator, and he has done a magnificent job in recruiting the Saints Volunteers that help the match day run smoothly. For those with time to spare during the week there is the Saints Chain Gang that help with maintenance.

Want to get involved, make new friends and be part of something? Contact Al on 07902 216417 or email at alancummins@live.co.uk.