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Back on the road at Westcliff

Back on the road at Westcliff

Alexandra Wallace18 Nov 2016 - 22:02
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MALCOLM BARNES returns at fly and Adam Nixon switches to full-back as the Raiders return to action away at Westcliff

MALCOLM BARNES returns at fly and Adam Nixon switches to full-back as the Raiders return to action away at Westcliff on Saturday and at the same time try and get their season back on the right track.

But the disappointing news if that regular fly-half Owen Thomas might be out until after Christmas following the concussion he suffered during the first half of the defeat to Tonbridge Juddians a fortnight ago.

With Thomas out, Gareth Davies gets his first competitive start in a No. 10 shirt for Guernsey in a much reshuffled backline as Jordan Reynolds tries to cope without up to 10 backs from his first-team squad.

Luke Sayer and Taylor Quate are out injured along with the long-term absentees such as Sam Whitehead. On top of that Ned Brown, Jason Batiste and Blair Campbell are all unavailable this weekend.

The shortage also means a recall for old warhorse Jim Regnard in a wing role.
‘It is the situation we are in,’ groaned the head coach. ‘But I’m sure he is excited as it has been a while [since he played in the firsts] for him.’

Although Westcliff are six places below Raiders, who are fifth in the table, they are on a better run of form than Guernsey having won their last two. They have also finished within one score of leaders Tonbridge Juddians and second-placed Hertford so far this campaign.

That demonstrates to Reynolds that they are more than decent side. Raiders will have to be at their best and the current injury pile up is not good. But the pack is very strong with only Luke Skovronek missing. The other major change is that Luke Jones reverts to centre where he will partner Kenny Hellier.

Overall, Reynolds has been stressing the need to tackle better while maintaining a positive attacking game, ‘They are going to be pretty tough, while we have got to look to bounce back a bit. They are a good working side. They like the grind of the game and we need to meet them in the middle in an arm wrestle.’

Likely starting XV:
Steventon, Ceillam, L. Batiste, Merrien, Hillier (captain), Hill, Mercadal, M. Thomas; Barnes, Davies, Martin, Hellier, Jones, Regnard, Nixon.

Replacements: Craine, N. Ashplant and one other

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