Recognising the threat of the Gravesend pack and our own deficiencies in that area last weekend in the narrow loss against Barnes, director of rugby Jordan Reynolds has bolstered our own with the recall of old warhorse Nick Barton, plus the reintroduction of Bradley Choules and switching Nick Merrien into the second row for extra mobility there.

Barton reappeared off the bench a fortnight ago, but it is months since our inspirational ‘go-to’ man in the engine room, has started.

It’s a big morale boost for the side.

Meanwhile, the coach says he expects Simi Sawene to have a big impact from the bench.

‘In terms of the 80 minute game we aren’t getting 100% out of him, but using him in shorter bursts we will get more out of him for sure.’

The other significant change sees the skipper, Blair Campbell, revert to the centres alongside Ned Brown, while last week’s centre pairing of Matt Hema and Jason Batiste go out to the wings.

‘We will be using them a lot from the blindside,’ said the coach, who believes that having his captain back in the middle will be another key factor in shoring up the side’s defensive game.

Luke Sayer, who was quite superb in the last home game, returns at full back.

Home win after win is what the coaching is searching for now and with six home matches to come against sides in the lower half of the 14-team table, it all hints at another strong finish to the campaign.

Not that our ‘DOR’ is taking the Gravesend challenge at all lightly.

Gravesend edged their home game 27-24 very largely on the dominance of their forwards and us fielding a set of backs that was nowhere near the first-choice seven.

Starting XV: Cameron Craine, Bradley Choules, Layton Batiste, Lewis Hillier, Nick Merrien, Matt Thomas, Dale Martin, Nick Barton; Malcolm Barnes, Glen Walters, Jason Batiste, Blair Campbell (capt.), Ned Brown, Matt Hema, Luke Sayer.

Replacements: Simi Sawene, Leon Gardner, Dave Davison.

Meanwhile, the Ladies travel to Southampton looking to continue their winning form. A win would take them to the top of the league with current leaders Ellingham and Ringwood having a rest weekend.

It is also a big weekend for our RBSI Academy U9s who host their Jersey counterparts in a mini-festival on the main pitch on Sunday.

The action starts at 10.30 and runs through until midday.

The RBSI Academy U14s are away in the Sussex League at East Grinstead where, no doubt, they will be leaning on the presence of Matthew Creber and Cody Simms, the two players who have made it through to the final 46 for Hampshire county training.

The duo were among 196 trialists who started out in the selection process. Well done boys!

The RBSI Academy U15s and U16s also travel off-island for Hampshire league fixtures.

Good luck to everyone!