Pratt wary of strugglers

The memory of a close shave in Guernsey in November means Canterbury Rugby Club won’t be taking anything for granted in the return at the Marine Travel Ground on Saturday. A converted try scored by Sean Stapleton four minutes from time snatched a 15-13 win for Canterbury on that occasion, and the club’s head of rugby Andy Pratt expects the bottom club to again be testing opposition. He said: “We nearly got turned over there, we probably used our get out of jail free card that day and Guernsey had a fantastic result at Clifton the other week (winning 16-14). “If anything they’re better on the road than they have been at home which is unusual at this level. “They’re well coached, and they have some good players so we’ll need to be well prepared.” Canterbury have an outstanding record at Merton Lane where they have only dropped one point all season and next up there is a game against promotion rivals Henley on March 23. The Oxfordshire side moved to within four points of second-placed Canterbury with Sunday’s 38-5 victory over Taunton, but Pratt says he’s not even thinking about that meeting yet. He added: “Everyone is aware the Henley game is on the horizon, but we can’t really think too much about that. It looks like being a big game now, but then suddenly it isn’t because you’ve slipped up in the meantime.” Saturday’s game kicks-off an hour earlier at 2pm.

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