Coaches Corner - Match Preview Harpenden & Maidenhead
Happy new year everyone, excited to be writing to you for the first time in 2026. Been a long time since I last committed my thoughts to paper and so much seems to have happened.
To start with I'll take you back to the game before Christmas where we had the 1st XV play Windsor and the 2nd XV vs Chesham. There’s no need to go through the details of those games but two comprehensive victories really added to the occasion. I absolutely love the opportunity to speak ahead of the game to our Christmas lunch crowd. The room was packed and everyone was in great spirits. A credit to Noel and the team who continue to bring in big numbers. I love how on match days we are becoming a real hub of the community, long time supporters are joined by first timers and it’s a great place to be spending time with friends and family and watching some good quality rugby in the process.
After the games the merriment continued as the senior players organised various activities including what is fast becoming a highlight of the year in the Christmas Nativity. We are so lucky to have a group of lads that are happy to put themselves forward and organise things that help bring the club together. A reminder that this is not normal at the majority of other clubs. Record bar takings on the day is a sign of where the club is heading and days like that are vital in sustaining us as a progressive community club that can continue to provide a great experience for players and supporters alike.
Moving on let’s take a look at the weekend just gone. The 1’s travelled up to Oxford Harlequins, a team that have been absolutely flying in recent seasons. Their 1st XV went from level 6 to level 4 very quickly and their 2nd team gained promotion to our level last season. Despite them not having secured a win it was still a tricky fixture to navigate having had a disrupted training schedule due to Christmas and the horrendous weather conditions the week before. The boys conducted themselves really well and despite a messy start came through to score 80 points, leaving plenty on the field as well. Some of the rugby was exceptional and it was fun to watch Braiden and Declan in particular compete in a contest for who would score the most tries. What impressed me most was the defensive effort that was being put in even in the closing stages when the game was sewn up. It shows real heart, desire and commitment to want to defend your line in the closing moments and we have that in spades.
The second team travelled up to Milton Keynes on Saturday which saw 2nd take on 3rd in the league. With Amersham (1st) playing Maidenhead (4th) at the same time the squad knew it was all to play for and a chance to go top and try and take control of the league was on the line. We knew that Milton Keynes would have a big, powerful pack and that proved to be true. MK dominated most of the scrummaging contests and were difficult to stop in their ball carrying but the team defended really well and when given the opportunity to move the ball wide played some outstanding rugby which led them to a 34-21 victory. It has been great to see some of our talented Uni boys come back and enjoy some 2nd team rugby and the likes of Will Mowatt (m.o.m) Ben Crinyion and Oscar Smaje have been excellent over the past few games. I have also been hugely impressed by the attitude and quality of some of our 1st XV regulars who have dropped down. The likes of Callum Saganowski, Barney Gucklhorn and Sam Mark have responded magnificently to the challenge of getting back into the 1’s and all had a big influence on the game last weekend. I’m sure they will have a massive part to play in the success of both teams this season. The win at MK coupled with a loss for Amersham sent our boys top and they will now hope to cement their position over the coming months and push to be playing level 7 rugby. What an incredible achievement that would be.
And on top of all that success, possibly the greatest positive of them all. We managed to field a fully fledged 3rd XV. Speaking to Chairman Noel he reckons it’s been well over 10 years since we fielded a genuine 3rd XV that was not a veterans side. We have to recognise that the success of the two teams above means people want to be involved and for me success on the pitch is great but as a community club if we can get more people putting on a Beaconsfield shirt each week especially in an era when most clubs are losing numbers then that is a massive achievement. I was so pleased when club legend and 2nd XV coach Kwong offered to take the side which contained plenty of 2’s regulars and some university lads. If we are going to grow a new team then having the support around them is vital and I'm always impressed by the “hands up not hands out” mentality of people at the club. They travelled to Hitchin and came away as 71-0 winners and by all accounts played some great rugby.
On a slightly different note, this week we say goodbye to our Head Physio Tiana. What a wonderful servant to the club she has been. Having worked with my fair share of clubs it is hard to find physios that get the balance between player welfare and the need to get lads back onto the pitch playing rugby. Since my first day working with Tiana she has proved what a top class physio she is combining compassion for the players with excellent knowledge and a no-nonsense approach. We will miss her greatly and wish her the best on her travels to Australia and I hope we see her whenever she decides to return home. On a more positive note it seems Tiana has left her hair colouring to man mountain Tyson and we look forward to the new “do” making its home debut this weekend.
So to finish up we look ahead to this weekends 1st XV game against Harpenden. We still have a mission to “hunt down” Brunel which means every game for us is crucial and adds a layer of pressure which thankfully the team are thriving off of. We know we need to keep our standards high so that should they slip up and drop points we can capitalise. Harpenden are a good quality side and were massively competitive at their place with a big pack and high levels of physicality. We also know that they have good speed out wide so if we allow them to play they have the weapons to cause us problems. Funnily enough for us the team remains fairly unchanged (that tends to happen when you are winning and there is competition for places). Only Ben Smythe is missing from last week which means Callum Saganowski following a strong performance in the 2’s comes back into the squad. Saggers was one of our top players prior to picking up an injury before Christmas so we are hoping to have him back to his usual high standards and impacting results for the 1st XV. I’m excited again to see our playmaking trio of Owain Griffiths, Freddie Hooper and Joey Thomas take the field. They have been working really well as a unit, identifying space and opportunities and leading on our attacking play. Each has a different set of skills and they blend really well to help us play the style of rugby that we want. Hopefully they can lead us to a big 5 points on Saturday.
I will leave it there for this week, it’s going to be a great occasion on Saturday having two teams back at Windsor End. Please do come down and support if you can, wrap up warm though and i’m sure Clinton can find you something to help from behind the bar!
Russ