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Vikings to get league campaign underway at Newick

Vikings to get league campaign underway at Newick

James Mroch3 Sep 2018 - 13:20
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https://www.stjacquesrfc.co.uk

The Vikings begin their Sussex Division Two 'Armada ale' league season this Saturday away to Newick.

The black and yellows have had a long preseason, which has been building up towards this weekend. With several new faces in the camp along with some older returning faces, this season looks promising for Ray Smart's young squad, if they can recapture last seasons form.

Smart has now taken over as Head Coach of the Vikings, with Steve Melbourne stepping up to take charge of the Raiders forward pack for their first season ever in RFU National 2. He is being ably assisted by two former Academy Colts coaches, Matt Chammings who takes on his first senior coaching appointment & the experienced South African coach Niel de Kock. Both of these coaches have a vast rugby knowledge, and have worked with many of the players in our squad during their time at the Academy. They have already settled in quickly, and along with Ray are delivering excellent coaching sessions and setting the exceptionally high standards they expect of the players.

Once again ensuring everything runs like clockwork behind the scenes however is our excellent manager Claire Gallienne. Claire is taking an even more active role this season with the squad, and her efforts ensure we can play rugby. We genuinely appreciate all the time our coach's and management team put into the club, and we are confident the players will deliver.

Last season we were really pleased to welcome 8 players from the Academy Colts, and this season several new colts have already joined our squad, with potentially as many as 7-8 due to join up within the next few months. We are also incredibly proud of the 6 Vikings from last season who due to their excellence playing for the Vikings along with their commitment to training have been asked to join up with the Raiders squad this season. We wish those boys all the very best as they pursue rugby at a much higher level, and we look forward to supporting them and all our other close friends at the Guernsey Raiders this season. It is great to see the local youth talent coming through the system, and we are exceptionally proud to play an important role in that!

Looking ahead to the season, the Vikings are away for the first 5 fixtures of the season, therefore our first home fixture will be against third placed last season Shoreham on 27th October. click this link for our full fixtures: http://www.stjacquesrfc.co.uk/teams/101268/fixtures-results

Keep an eye out later this week for the first team news and match preview ahead of Saturdays clash with Newick. They were one of only three teams to beat us last season, and it is undoubtedly going to be a tough opening match.

We look forward to the new season, and we look forward to your support as always!

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