National Two East preview: New-look Oundle in a drive for success

Oundle will start the new National Two East campaign with promotion firmly in their sights after responding to last season’s agonising near miss with an eye-catching recruitment drive.

The Northamptonshire club pushed Bury St Edmunds all the way in a gripping title race, eventually finishing only two points behind the champions after winning 20 of their 26 matches and collecting 106 points.

Old Albanian were third on 97, while Barnes and Canterbury both finished on 86.

Oundle then came within 80 minutes of completing a remarkable rise from Regional One when they reached the National One accession final, only to lose 19-15 to Birmingham Moseley.

Ambititous recruitment drive

But there has been no retreat over the summer.

Former Northampton Saints and Ealing Trailfinders winger Tom Collins headlines an ambitious recruitment drive which also includes ex-Saracens and Coventry centre Oli Morris, former Northampton and Coventry prop Toby Trinder and Ben Brownlie, who previously won promotion to the Champ with Cambridge.

Oundle have also signed Harry Wells from Leicester Tigers but will have to wait three months for his services after Bristol Bears signed the second row on a short-term deal.

Wells, above, who won one England cap against Canada in 2021, said: “I remain committed to Oundle and plan to return to the club following the conclusion of my time with the Bears.”

And Collins says the quality of the squad and standards being demanded at Occupation Road have convinced him Oundle are capable of going one better.

He said: “You’ve got a good mix there of not just experienced lads, but lads who are good people as well, and that is so important.

“Everyone who’s come in are great people. They’re coming in, and they’re wanting to drive stuff.

“They’re not coming in and just sitting there expecting things to happen – they’re trying to drive and push on. They are also ambitious.

“Then you’ve got people who really want to learn and players who have been at the club since a young age, who bring that culture side and have family connections at the club. It’s a good environment.

“I have heard a lot about National Two and how difficult it is.

“But our goal is obviously to try and do what we couldn’t last year and try and get promoted and go up the leagues.”

New arrival: Tom Collins heads an impressive list of new arrivals at Oundle

New figure

There is also a new figure at the helm, with former Leicester Lions boss Gareth Collins taking over as head coach after previously guiding the Lions to National One.

Oundle will inevitably begin among the favourites, but the make-up of National Two East has changed considerably.

Bury have moved up after a spectacular final-day 95-28 victory over Old Albanian secured the title, while Sevenoaks and Oxford Harlequins were relegated.

Bury scored 1,128 points during their championship campaign, finishing with 108 points to Oundle’s 106 in the tightest title race the division has produced.

In their place come relegated National One side Leicester Lions and promoted Colchester and Jersey, with both of the latter arriving after dominant Regional One campaigns.

New role: Gareth Collins

Better equipped

Colchester are back at Level Four having learnt some painful lessons from their previous spell and head coach Mike Haywood, below, believes his squad is far better equipped this time.

More than a dozen players have been added over the summer, including returning Oundle pair Harry Bureau and Ashton Webb and experienced back-row Matt Wagstaff from Southend.

Haywood has also created a performance group of around 50 players to improve depth across the first and second teams.

He said: “We know when we went into National 2 previously, we were slightly under-gunned.

“Our big thing this season is about being fit and fast. Playing on 4G suits that.

“We’ve got an exciting young group with a mixture of older boys with in that.

“We want to play a good brand of rugby, we want to play fast, we want to move the ball and that’s essentially what our pre-season has been based around.

“We are very lucky with the group we retained from last year. We’ve had a couple of guys leave and one long-term injury.

“Other than that, it’s a pretty consistent group.

“It’s a demanding league. We’ve got to travel a bit more, the rugby is better, the physicality is more, preparation needs to be better.

“But we’re all just excited to have another go at it and show what Colchester Rugby Club can do.”

Rivals

Their return begins with a difficult trip to Barnes, who finished fourth last season with 16 victories and should again harbour ambitions of remaining around the leading pack.

Jersey’s arrival creates another of the season’s most intriguing storylines.

They will face island rivals Guernsey Raiders twice in the league in addition to the traditional Siam Cup, giving National Two East one of the most distinctive derbies anywhere in the English pyramid.

Guernsey finished tenth last season with 11 victories and 62 points, but director of rugby Jordan Reynolds believes Jersey’s arrival will benefit both clubs and bring added attention to a division he expects to be fiercely competitive.

Reynolds, belowt, said: “I think it’s brilliant. I got asked if it would take away from the Siam. How could you think that?

“Sides in the Premiership play each other twice in the season, does that take away anything if they meet in the play-off semi-finals or final?

“If anything, it is going to attract more interest to our rugby.

“I think it will give us a little bit more to get excited about in the league.

“We’re the only club that does not have a derby in the competition, so it’s going to be great when the fixtures come out and everyone will be circling those dates.

“It will also provide huge value on-pitch and off-pitch for both clubs.

“If the islands can get their travel lines sorted out, we might be talking about a few hundred people going to the other island to the games.

“Looking across the board next season, there certainly does not seem to be any easy games.”

Elsewhere

Jersey are handed a high-profile opener at home to London Welsh, while Guernsey make one of the longest trips of the opening round to relegated Leicester Lions for a 5pm kick-off.

That match should provide an immediate indication of how quickly Leicester can readjust to Level Four after dropping out of National One.

Elsewhere, Old Albanian and Canterbury meet in another particularly intriguing first-round fixture.

Old Albanian finished third last season after winning 18 matches and scoring 1,009 points, while Canterbury were fifth with 16 victories.

Dorking, sixth last season with a plus-200 points difference, begin at Havant, while Westcombe Park host Henley Hawks.

Henley eventually preserved their National Two status with a convincing 43-7 accession final victory over Tunbridge Wells after finishing 12th.

While Oundle host Mike Brown’s Esher, who will be desperate to return to the top following a disappointing season that only just saw them survive.