Park will be main rivals for promotion say Hartpury
Hartpury College rugby director John Barnes has earmarked divisional big guns Rosslyn Park as the threat to his side’s hopes of promotion to the Championship, along with Plymouth, Moseley, Ampthill, Esher and Blackheath .
In only their second season in level three, Hartpury achieved a magnificent runners-up spot behind champions Richmond last season. But Barnes knows going one better will be a huge task for a side that regularly loses its best players.
Barnes told The Rugby Paper: “You never know how teams will play when they’ve recruited lots of players but, for me, Rosslyn Park will be a very strong team. They certainly had a great second-half of last season and I’m sure they’ll carry that on and be strong again, while Coventry, with their new director of rugby and fresh outlook, will challenge more than they have in the last couple of years.
“Then you’re looking at the same teams as last year, with Blackheath, Plymouth and Esher building nicely, along with Ampthill, who’ve recruited strongly under Paul Turner and should be there or thereabouts.
“Moseley should also be a threat. Kevin Maggs, right, has done well in the Championship on the budget they’ve had and while they unfortunately dropped out this year, they’ve kept the core of their squad and signed good players.
“With their Championship experience, I’m sure they’ll be a strong performer.”
Whilst Hartpury may be deemed outsiders, Barnes takes heart from retaining highly-rated back row forward Jake Polledri, while the availability of bullocking wing Jonas Mikalcius on a season-long loan from Harlequins is a major bonus. Barnes explained: “Jonas had a phenomenal
first year playing on the wing for us last season and has gone from strength-to-strength.
“The experience of pre-season with Quins will have been great and the sort of input international players such as Mike Brown and Marland Yarde will have had, along with Mark Mapletoft’s coaching, will make him better.
“We lost a few guys to bigger clubs, like Alec Clarey (Bristol), Ben Vellacott (Gloucester), James Voss (Jersey) and Tom McDonald (Rotherham), but retaining Jonas and Jake Polledri and adding Mat Gilbert from Worcester is huge.”
Newly promoted Macclesfield are determined to banish their yo-yo team reputation and have long-term ambitions of reaching the Championship.
The Cheshire outfit have twice won promotion to level three in the last five years, but on each occasion were immediately relegated. Director of rugby Giles Heagerty told TRP: “We want to stabilise and feel we should be a National One club.We learnt a lot two years ago and I think we’ve got much better infrastructure now and a deeper squad with greater quality.
“Our aim is to do more than just survive and we’d like to push higher in the next five years. We’re getting planning permission for a new clubhouse and 3G pitch and if you have Championship facilities, that’s where you want to be.”
Macclesfield are boosted by the arrival of ex-Rotherham back-rower Josh Redfern.
Heagerty added: “Josh has already shown his value, not just in terms of his performances in pre-season but in his professionalism.
“We’ve added Niall Davidson, a specialist openside, who’s come from a league lower at Caldy but has been on two England Counties tours in a row. He’ll be good for us and having a lot of last year’s squad around will help as well.”
Heagerty tips Coventry, Ampthill, Hartpury, Plymouth and Moseley as sides to watch, buts adds: “I’d be surprised if Darlington weren’t up there as well. With their recruitment and contact time, they should make an impression.”
“Newly promoted Macclesfield will be determined to banish their yo-yo team reputation”