Tonbridge Juddians vs Henley Hawks – Saturday, December 7th, 2pm kick-off 

By Alistair Beynon

Fresh from a rest week, Henley Hawks make the journey to Kent to take on current National 2 East table toppers Tonbridge Juddians tomorrow, kick-off 2pm.

With the opportunity to rest some tired legs last weekend, Director of Rugby Luke Allen has a relatively healthy squad to pick from heading into the Hawks toughest challenge of the season to date. TJ’s have had an excellent first half of the season with ten victories and just a solitary loss to their name. The only blemish came at the hands of Bury St. Edmunds two weeks ago when they went down 32-21 to the Suffolk side, and they will be keen to get back to winning ways on Saturday. Their home record in particular has been very impressive having notched up try bonus point wins over Dorking, Sevenoaks, Guernsey, Canterbury, Westcombe Park and Old Albanian averaging over 40 points a game.

For Henley, whose second half comeback performance against Canterbury two weeks ago will be fresh in the minds, have named a fairly settled side as they aim to make it seven wins in a row. In the pack there is a first start since September for Will Benning at Number 8. The influential back-row has been out with an Achilles injury and all Hawks supporters will be delighted to see him back in the action. The front row remains unchanged whilst Liam Goodison switches to the second row in place of Shek Sheriff who takes his place amongst the replacements. Roan Noone comes back into the starting XV at openside flanker with Marcus Lowe switching to blindside.

In the backs, George Wood has recovered from illness to take his place at outside centre which is otherwise unchanged from the Canterbury game. The Hawks provisional side to face Tonbridge Juddians on Saturday is as follows:

1. Kadeem Collins, 2. Spencer Hayhow, 3. Rory Mason ©, 4. Liam Goodison, 5. Sam Lunnon, 6. Marcus Lowe, 7. Roan Noone, 8. Will Benning, 9. Aidan Pugh, 10. Max Titchener, 11. Lailand Gordon, 12. Leo Webb, 13. George Wood, 14. Aaron Bello, 15. Toby Howe

Replacements: 16. Beau Delaney, 17. Louis Bailey, 18. Shek Sheriff, 19. Finn Basil, 20. Callum Jones

Elsewhere this weekend sees a full complement of fixtures for Henley sides. On Saturday, the 2nd XV are at home to Newbury 2’s whilst the 3’s travel to Reading 2’s. Both games kick-off at 2pm. Meanwhile on Sunday, Henley Hawks Women are back in action as they travel to Sunbury to take on London Irish, kick-off 2pm in their latest Championship South clash.