HAVANT PRESENT FRESH CHALLENGE

SATURDAY PREVIEW

My challenge to the players before Saturday’s game was to deliver one of the most physical opening ten minutes the Marine Travel Ground had ever seen. To the players’ credit, last Saturday has to rank as one of them. Although we started a little edgy in attack, I thought our defence was ruthless and gave Dorking very limited time and opportunity. After fifteen minutes our attack settled and we went on to score four tries in twenty minutes.
Dorking are fifth in the league table for a good reason and, before Saturday, had conceded an average of just 17.5 points per game. They still have the best defence in the league, with the second-best team forty points adrift. I think that puts our forty-point haul into context and to contain them to a single try is something we can be really proud of.
There are some excellent podcasts available where England players and coaches from the 2019 World Cup squad that beat New Zealand talk about the week that followed that great result and their preparation for the final. They all speak about the emotional drain of such a performance and how they felt they did not fully respect how they were feeling, or the challenge of returning to the same emotional level just one week later.
In our own way, we now face a similar challenge. After one of our best performances of the season we travel to play a confident Havant side. They have won four games in a row and boast the fourth-best scoring record in the league. We are under no illusions: we must get back to the same emotional level if we want to get a result on the south coast.
The Pilgrims are also back in action in a decisive fixture away at eleventh-placed Dartfordians. Only eight points separate the two teams but we currently sit on the right side of the relegation fence. The Pilgrims are refreshed after their week off and travel knowing the significance of the game. Pressure is a privilege and big games are the ones you remember — I’ve no doubt this will be one for the memory banks.

MATT CORKER, HEAD COACH