RAMS coach Harry Stapleton believes the two friendlies against Chinnor this month will be special, as more than a year without competitive fixtures finally comes to an end, writes Richard Ashton.
The Old Bath Road side will take on their neighbours and National One rivals in games at home on Saturday, May 22 and at Kingsey Road seven days later.
And Stapleton said: “It’s so strange to have had a full season cancelled, and it’s always nice to play local derbies.
“We could have played anyone locally and it would have been special, but it’s even more special because it’s Chinnor, who are in the same league and going forward people will want to put on a good performance.”
He added: “There’s some really good talent which has joined the club and some really good talent which has come through the youth.
“It will be really interesting to see Sam (Nicholls) back at his old club as you always want to put on a good performance in that situation.
“The number of people who have asked to play in the games is incredible, so it will be really exciting to see what happens.”
Reflecting on how training has gone since the players returned at the end of March, he continued: “It’s been really good and the guys are looking great.
“There’s been some really good stuff on show which is really pleasing, and the standard has been so high – and the players set those standards themselves. It’s been really, really impressive.
“They’re putting in a lot of hard work and hopefully we’ll get to see that pay off in the games against Chinnor.
“A lot of the guys have been itching to do proper contact training – we’ve brought in elements of it albeit minute, but the intensity will now be high, and hopefully we can keep the accuracy high at the same time.”
And with the games set to be played under the adapted laws which means no scrums or mauls, Stapleton concluded: “We’re all expecting it to look really fast, and if the weather holds up that will increase the speed.”
