Fresh from one of their biggest ever victories last weekend, St Jacques Vikings are back in action against Fordingbridge on Saturday.
With four games left to play for Ray Smart’s side, they currently sit third in the division but have games in hand over the teams above them, Sandown & Shanklin and Basingstoke.
Securing a positive result is essential this weekend, as they travel to ninth placed Fordingbridge.
St Jacques have yet to play the hosts this season, after two scheduled matches have been postponed due to weather issues. This poses an interesting conundrum for the Vikings, as whilst Fordingbridge find themselves towards the lower end of the league table, they have had some close results recently, including securing a big win against Tottonians seconds. They are likely to be a difficult opposition this weekend.
The win against Sandown last weekend was a momentous occasion for St Jacques, but they need to ensure they back that performance up this weekend on the road.
Man of the match last week Jacob Smith is in a rich vein of form at present, and he will hope to continue that again this weekend. He packs down in the second row with Kieran Williamson.
Returning after a year out following sustaining a knee injury against Romsey last season, Cam Le Prevost is named in the side on the wing. He is one of the Vikings longest serving players, and it is great to see him back in the side.
Tom Veillard moves to scrum-half this week, and Gearoid Lee joins him in the halfbacks. They are experienced playmakers and will look to run the attack this week.
Will Creber has been ruled out with injury, meaning captain Matt Lomas is deployed at inside centre, whilst Ed Duerden returns from illness at outside centre.
There are several changes in the back-row as Ivan Donaldson and Jamie Mahy come into the side, with Chris Croft and Jack Webber primed to offer significant impact from the replacements. Mitch Smith continues at number 8, he is the only player to play in every match so far this season.
The Vikings forwards have proved to be dominant in recent games, with poor weather forecast for tomorrow, their dominant set piece and driving maul may well prove to be essential.
The front row power comes from Corey Wallis, Phil Le Noury and Tom Bray. All three played well last week against the Hurricanes. James Mroch provides the reinforcement, having missed out last week.
In the back three, Courtney Sargent plays his third game for the club, whilst Kieran Creber moves to fullback this week.
The game kicks-off at 1:30pm. You can follow the match on our Facebook & Instagram stories.