Hawks ready to pounce this time says boss Dudding
HENLEY rugby director Nigel Dudding says narrowly missing out on last season’s play-off is fuelling the club’s promotion drive now.
Hawks were one of the form sides towards the end of the last campaign but a damaging 33-26 defeat at Canterbury in late March enabled the Kent side to sneak into second place and eventually secure promotion to National League One.
Long-serving Dudding told The Rugby Paper: “We were one point off last season and that was disappointing, but overall we were pretty satisfied with our year after finding our feet with a lot of new players and coaching staff.
“The key thing is we didn’t beat the sides above us and losing to Rams and Canterbury on the last play of games cost us in the end. But we were pretty solid elsewhere and we’ve got very strong ambitions now to get back into National One.”
To that end, Henley have struck up a fruitful partnership with Championship side Ealing. Dudding explained: “Ben Ward, their DoR, used to play for us and we’ll have three of their Brunel University boys with us during the campaign.
“We’ve also got a couple of boys on placement from Bath University who’ve played A-League rugby, so we’re pleased with those links. We’ve also recruited some key guys to bolster our existing squad and feel we’re ready to push-on.” Perennial challengers
Taunton will also hope this is their year, with those ambitions being boosted by the return of back rower Dan Lee.
Rugby director Tony Yapp says: “One of the problems is we keep losing players to clubs higher up and when you think Sam Skinner (Exeter), Jack Owlett (Wasps) and Jake Woolmore (Bristol) all played here, we’re pretty proud of that.
“We’re victims of our own success but the objective is to be promoted and having Dan Lee back, with the experience he brings, will rub off on the rest of the boys. We’ve got Jack Arnott from Plymouth as well, which adds to our quality.”
Esher boss Peter Winterbottom admits his side are unknown quantities after a summer rebuild following relegation from National One.
The former England flanker said: “We lost quite a few players and 50 per cent of our squad is new, but we’re happy with our pre-season.
“We’re expecting a difficult season, but we’ve got very good coaches and we certainly hope to be one of the contenders for promotion.”
Sutton & Epsom are embarking on their first campaign at this level and coach Paul Hodgson admits they face a daunting task.
The former England and London Irish No.9 said: “We can’t pay the money other clubs can and we don’t want to be a team of mercenaries, but the club is flying.
“Retention has been brilliant and we’ve recruited a couple, but with us being new on the scene, it’s hard to predict how we’ll do.”