A tale of two halves for Sherwood’s improving side
It's been a season of two halves for Tonbridge Juddians, and director of rugby Seb Sherwood is looking to build on a positive second half to push for promotion next term.
The Kent-based side came into this weekend in fourth, which is the highest the club can finish after failing to keep up with front-runners Esher, Dorking and Barnes.
Sherwood's side won just six of their 13 games before the turn of the new year but have since picked up the pace with eight victories from their next 11 outings.
The ultimate goal is returning to National One, but Sherwood recognises they need to be more consistent.
He told The Rugby Paper: “It's been a season of two halves. We struggled before Christmas with a few injuries earlier in the season to some key positions which meant we had to chop and change our squad a lot.
“We've had a lot more consistency in the second half. Fourth is about right, it's not where we want to be long-term, though.
“We've been in National One before in 2020/21 post-Covid, so a difficult time to go up. We took some harsh lessons and came straight back down, but now we've had a taste for it, it's definitely where we want to be. When we do return it's about learning from our mistakes last time.”
Tonbridge pushed second-place Dorking all the way last weekend but ultimately fell short in a 36-33 defeat which Sherwood says could have gone either way.
He added: “It was a good marker of where we're at. We feel we should be competing with those sorts of teams week in, week out. There were a couple of unforced errors and the scoreline could have been different. I thought Dorking played well and are a good side who don't have a particular weakness.”
There's been clear standouts in the squad for Sherwood this season, with Alex Reid, below, William Holling and Thomas Nicoll earning plaudits from their boss.
Sherwood said: “Alex Reid is an ex-academy player and made his 100th appearance on Saturday. He scored against Worthing from 40m out, so isn't a typical loosehead as he's highly athletic, a big ball player, good scrummager and can play 80 minutes each week.
“A new signing is Will Holling at hooker, he's our top tryscorer and has been outstanding. Captain Tommy Nicoll is an incredibly tough player, who leads from the front. It's his first season as skipper and he's developed massively in terms of his leadership skills in the back row. We're excited to see where we can take that over the next two seasons.”
Tonbridge hope to get out of National Two East next term but enjoy the local derbies in the fourth tier with Kent rivals Canterbury, Sevenoaks and Westcombe Park.
“You've got a really nice mix and, with four Kent teams, it means there's some great local derbies which are well attended, with plenty of emotion,” said Sherwood. “There's a few longer trips like Bury St Edmunds, North Walsham and Guernsey which create good social opportunities for away days.”
