New Year Starts With A Bang

MATCH PREVIEW

The players delivered an early Christmas present and finished the year in style, winning convincingly away at Sevenoaks and scoring five tries in the process. This was exactly how we wanted to end the year and took us into the break on a five-game winning run. I challenged the players before the London Welsh game that we weren’t going to take any backward steps—and they haven’t failed.
The Christmas break isn’t the easiest time to be a rugby player. The two-week break introduced when the league was restructured has given players and staff a well-earned rest, but as far as the players are concerned, to rest is to rust. Two weeks confined to the sofa can make January a very challenging month. We learned this lesson the hard way a few seasons ago. Now the players share their workouts to stay accountable to each other and, on our first Tuesday back in training, we run a Bronco.
For those who haven’t come across a Bronco, it has become a standard fitness test widely used in rugby. It’s essentially a 1,200m timed shuttle run—and to be fair, it’s worse than it sounds. On Tuesday, seven players ran personal bests and most others were very close to theirs. This is no accident and is testament to the hard work the players put in over the festive period to ensure we start January in the best possible condition.
Our 2026 starts with a bang as we welcome National 2 stalwarts Henley Hawks to the Marine Travel Ground. Henley finished 2025 with a good win against Barnes and we won’t be fooled by their current league position. Many of their defeats have been by an average of just six points and we’ve had plenty of close encounters with them over the years. Regardless of what the weather throws at us, I have no doubt the rugby will be played at a high temperature.
The Pilgrims also start the year with a tough challenge as they travel to Brighton, the league leaders. It’s great to see some players returning from long-term injuries to run out for the Pilgrims tomorrow. This has also helped our preparation this week by lifting the competition at training.
Two big games for the 1st XV and the Pilgrims—there’s no other way we’d want to start the year.

MATT CORKER, HEAD COACH