Mtch-Previw-vs-OS-26-11-2022

Match Preview and Canterbury Tales – 26/11/2022

CANTERBURY  v OLD ALBANIAN

After a week’s break the team face a testing return to duty with the visit of Old Albanian who currently sit fourth in National2 East. With seven victories, one of them over leaders Blackheath, and three defeats they are making a serious challenge for honours. Head Coach Matt Corker has welcomed news that his squad is now mostly free from the illness which affected their performance last time out. The pack is unchanged and the only adjustments to the back division come on the replacements bench where Frank Morgan returns after successfully completing concussion protocols. He is joined by scrum half Tom Williams who makes a long awaited return after recovering from a serious shoulder injury in pre-season game. Matt Corker writes:  “The week off came at a good time for us and we used the break to not only reflect on the first ten games but also focus on what we want the story of the rest of the season to be. We are very fortunate to have Chris Musgrove on board as our mental skills coach and he did a great session with both the Pilgrims and 1st XV putting some detail on what we want to achieve, and importantly how are we going to do it. I see these next four games before the Christmas break as a real opportunity to show what the team is capable of, and with 20 points up for grabs there is a great deal to be gained. The squad has trained well this week and the players look fresh from a weekend off. We know that Old Albanians will be becoming full of confidence after a strong start to the season and I am expecting another very competitive afternoon of National league rugby.“

The Pilgrims face a tough Counties Kent 2 assignment as they travel to Bromley to meet Park House. If they are to maintain their third position in the league they must come away with a result against a side with a similar playing record and who are unbeaten home this season.

CANTERBURY TALES

TOP CLUB

We have has been named Rugby Club of the Year at a National awards ceremony. The accolade came at the Club Mirror Awards in Leicester. The Club Mirror Media group champions licensed clubs across a wide field, including sport, and makes the awards annually. Canterbury were also finalists in the Social Media category. Chairman Giles Hilton, Club Secretary Sally Taylor, and Communications Manager Denys Andrianjafy accepted the award on behalf of the club. “This is really a recognition of us as an inclusive community club ” said Giles. “The great thing about the Club Mirror Awards is that they look at the activity of the club as a whole, So it really is testament to us as #OneClub”.

HEART OF SUCCESS

It has been a busy seven days at the club. Last weekend saw over 200 members take part in the heart screening programme aimed at identifying young people who might be at risk of Sudden death  Syndrome. Members between the ages of 14 and 35 were invited to have a screening.   There was another encouraging response to the Careers Fair where local businesses showcased career opportunities to students and others seeking a change of work.

Bury St Edmunds vs 1st XV

Match Preview

MATCH PREVIEW

Injury problems have dictated the shape of the squad which travels to Bury St Edmunds on Saturday. Wing Frankie Morgan and flanker Alex Evans miss out after picking up head knocks at Barnes and must follow concussion guidelines. Also out of contention is Will Calder who has a muscle strain. Sherif Lanre fills the wing vacancy and makes his first start in the senior team. A reshuffle in the pack sees Jesse De Vries return to the second row with captain Jamie Stephens moving to Number Six. New front row signing Cameron Macmillan joins the replacements bench where Elliot Lusher returns after recovering from illness. Kick-off is 3pm.

There is good and admission free league rugby at The Marine Travel Ground on Saturday with the Pilgrims, who now sit third in Counties Kent 2, hosting Westcombe Park 2nd. Kick-off is 3pm and there are pre-match lunches available. Our 3rd are also at home to Sevenoaks 3rd.

CANTERBURY TALES

COODBYE AND THANKS ‘COOPS’

Last weekend saw the final appearance in a Canterbury shirt of prop Aaron Cooper who is joining Westcombe Park. ‘Coops’ has been an important and popular player for both the club and the Kent County team since joining from Dover in 2016. The game at Barnes last week was his 136th appearance for the first team. Typical of the great club man he has been Aaron cut short a holiday to join the squad at Barnes when Elliot Lusher had to withdraw through illness. Without Aaron we would have been short of the mandatory front row cover required in league games so we owe him a real debt.. At ‘Combe he will make it a family affair as he joins brother Joe on the player roster.

WELCOME CAMERON

Stepping into Aaron Cooper’s boots is Cameron Macmillan, a Scotland Under 20 and Glasgow Warriors Under 20 loose head prop who can play across the front row positions, He is due to make his first appearance in the Bury St Edmunds game where he is among the bench replacements. Cameron joins us from Scotland Super Six side Stirling Wolves.

Match Preview vs Tonbridge Juddians

Match Preview

CANTERBURY V TONBRIDGE JUDDIANS

We go into the second round of National 2 East with a full blown Kent derby against a Tonbridge Juddians side smarting from a home defeat last week. We could not have wished for anything better than this fixture for the first home game of the new league season. The Canterbury side shows changes from the squad that made such a good start at North Waltham with injuries ruling out fly half Frank Reynolds (hamstring strain) and lock Jesse De Vries who took a knock to the head and stands down for a minimum two weeks under concussion protocols

Tyler Oliver and Tom Williams are still recovering from injuries sustained in pre-season games, In the starting line-up for the first time are back row players Cameron Murray and Harry Andrews while another newcomer, Harry Sansbury who has joined us from Westcombe Park, is in the squad together with Freddie Edwards.

Head Coach Matt Corker says:. “It feels great to be returning home after a long trip on the road last week at North Walsham. After a slow start, we came out after half time and showed how we want to play, and what we are capable of. In a 20-minute period we scored 26 points, and although we did concede a few tries late on, we were proud of the way we turned the game in our favour and earned 5 points in the process.

“I am looking forward to welcoming our rugby neighbours, Tonbridge Juddians to The Marine Travel Ground on Saturday. They return to our league after a season in National 1 and will be full of ambition to return at the soonest opportunity. They will have learnt a lot from their experiences in the league above and I am expecting the match to be a physical encounter, just like all the previous games between these two proud clubs.”

Canterbury; A.Moss, G.Hilton, W.Waddington, T.Best, F.Morgan, C. Kingsman, B.Cooper, B.Young, N.Morris, D.Herriott, D.Irvine, J.Stephens (captain), H.Andrews, A.Evans, C.Murray;

Replacements: A.Cooper ,E.Lusher, H.Sansbury, F.Edwards, W.Calder

CANTERBURY TALES

SURPRISE, SURPRISE

The National 2 East season got off to an intriguing start last week with defeats for Tonbridge Juddians and Worthing. With both clubs tipped to be strong title challengers those results, Judds losing at home to Rochford Hundred and Worthing away at Barnes, were a surprise. One game does, not, of course, define a whole season but it does suggest that this league is not going to be a walkover for any side. Worthing’s website put their defeat down to the absence of all their dual registered Harlequins players, none whom were available. Not a great advert for team building you might think Our own policy is now very much focused on producing young players through the club’s systems and surely that is the right way to go. One benefit of the revamped league set up was reduced travel. North Walsham away knocks that theory slightly on the head. The long trek to Norfolk last week was just like the bad old/good old days of National 2 South with the Summer festival of road works in full swing. Still, to play and win in front of a crowd of over 1000 made it worthwhile.

CHAMPION HILTONS

Last Saturday proved to be a good day for the Hilton brothers, Will and Guy. While Guy was strutting his stuff on the wing at North Walsham Will was playing a major role in St Lawrence and Highland Court cricket club’s successful title-winning promotion bid to reach the Kent League’s Premier division. Will, the team’s leading run scorer this season, added another half century to his total. For Guy, scoring our sixth try at North Walsham, it was a double celebration. As joint captain of St Lawrence & Highland Court second team he was able to dash back and join in the fun as his side also won promotion to the Second Team Premier division. For Will, it’s time now to ditch the whites and pull on the black and amber.

Match preview

MATCH PREVIEW: NORTH WALSHAM

It is sixteen years since Canterbury were last at North Walsham, Saturday’s opponents in the opening round of the National 2 East season. On that day, in 2006, it was our introduction to rugby at National level while Walsham were established members of the old National 3 structure. Now the situation is reversed with the Norfolk side being promoted last season after several years playing at lower levels. In that first match we lost by ten points and Head Coach Matt Corker is expecting another tough encounter with the home side keen to make an early impression after their successful promotion campaign. He says: “Ten weeks of preseason flies by and even though it has not all gone our way, we have had lots of opportunities to learn, and the group has grown so much over the summer. The players decided that the way that we “gel” is important to us, and they have backed this up by welcoming all our new players into the pack. This has been great to witness, and I love watching characters emerge especially last season’s graduating colts who are experiencing adult rugby for the first time.

“Injuries are unfortunately part of the game and there are a few faces missing for Saturday, but I am a strong believer that this offers an opportunity for someone else to show what they are capable of. We are traveling to North Walsham with a strong squad, and I fully expect them to come all guns blazing. We know from first-hand what it is like being promoted and they will be very keen to have a strong start and we are expecting a physical contest.”

Those injuries have given chances to scrum half Will Calder and flanker Harvey Furneaux, two young and home grown players who have bright futures. There are league debuts also for newcomers Nathan Morris and Cameron Murray. Kick-off is 3pm.

CANTERBURY TALES

Fresh Challenges

So, a new season gets under way and this time the threat of Covid does not hang over it so heavily. With the revamped National 2 league structure in place it feels like a fresh start for everyone. The benefits of splitting the league into three regional divisions could not have come at a better time with fuel and energy costs soaring. There will be less travel and, hopefully, fewer large bills to absorb. Healthy competition remains as,unlike the Premiership, promotion and relegation will keep all the clubs honest. The top club in the three divisions, West, North and East, will be promoted and at the other end of the tables, the bottom two will go down. Our own league looks strong with clubs like relegated Blackheath and Tonbridge Juddians looking for return to National One. All clubs will start with an advantage over Westcliff who have been deducted five points, the price of failure to play their fixture at Worthing last season. Newcomers Sevenoaks have also been under investigation, for different reasons, but there has as yet been no news of any decision by the rugby authorities

Friday Night Bonus

One of the many positives of a busy pre-season programme in August has been the popularity of Friday night rugby. The attendance for the Bishop’s Stortford game was good but was dwarfed by the turnout for the visit of Westcombe Park There were over 400 at The Marine Travel Ground and on the same evening another a healthy crowd at the Simon Langton where the Pilgrims met Thanet Wanderers. It was a real Canterbury ‘old boys’ night where there were familiar faces both on and off the pitch. ‘Combe had our former wing Kieran Thompson in their starting line up while Thanet featured front row men Jimmy Green and Neil Wakefield. Kieran’s time in the Canterbury shirt was blighted by a series of injuries so it was good to see hm fit and well. In the ‘Combe dugout were two former members of our coaching team, Darren Molloy and Dave Marshall, This will be a season where we renew acquaintance with several local clubs because of the new league structures and that, too, was reflected in the size of the crowds..