HOOKER Ben Henderson is delighted with how Rams are shaping up ahead of their second National One campaign – despite the RFU announcing it will not start before January at the earliest.
Almost all of the squad which finished as runners-up last term have returned to Old Bath Road, along with a handful of new signings including former Oxford University captain Fergus Taylor and young fly-half Sam Nicholls.
And Henderson believes it is a hugely positive sign.
He said: “To keep almost the whole squad together is fantastic, especially when there’s so much turnover of players around the league.
“There’s a core of players here who have been together for four or five years and that’s important, especially with how things are at the moment with some players maybe chasing a bit more security and chasing money at different clubs.
“We’ve added some fantastic players who compliment the squad nicely and one thing (Director of Rugby) Seb (Reynolds) has always been keen on is getting the right people.
“Someone like Fergus (Taylor), I’ve spoken to a lot of people who know him and they’ve all just said he could not be a better match for Rams, and the rest of the new boys are fitting into the same model.”
The popular front-row forward believes the players are ready to kick on and avoid any ‘second-season syndrome’ whenever play is allowed to return.
He continued: “We played last year knowing we had to be at the top of our performance to compete, never resting on our laurels, which was maybe how we caught a lot of other teams out. We will have to do that again.
“There were a lot of other teams with, on paper, much better squads, but if you take your foot off the gas, you’ll be beaten at this level. Even the relegated teams pushed the top sides hard at times and you just can’t take anything for granted.
“Luckily it’s not going to be as much of a slog this year (in the number of games), but it will be a case of keeping your mentality strong because if there is going to be promotion, we will only have half the time to make it work either way.”
Looking back to last season and the stunning journey, Henderson reflected: “We had the big, memorable games like the two Chinnor ones and Rosslyn Park, but for me, the most important thing was the first four or five games when we were the underdogs coming in and no-one knew what to expect.
“People outside the club might have been expecting teams to put 60 points on us every week, but we kept winning and they still weren’t getting the message, but I don’t think we’ll have that luxury (being underestimated) this year.”
Rams have now completed four weeks of pre-season, but Henderson said he has been working hard throughout the summer.
He said: “We were quite lucky things opened up early for us (with the outdoor gym) and since I was on Furlough at the time, ironically they couldn’t keep me away which has horrified a lot of people round here.
“(With the return of team training) It’s been nice to see people and a welcome relief from all the stuff going on in the world.”
Whenever rugby can resume, Henderson will be three short of 50 tries for the club, including a remarkable 21 in the 2018/19 season.
Tom Vooght and Jak Rossiter topped the charts with 12 apiece in the shortened last campaign, but Henderson has said he hopes to grab a few more.
He joked: “Two years ago I was the five-metre specialist at the back of the driving maul, but this year it was a lot harder to get over the line so I had to pass the ball back a few more times. I can’t really claim any of those tries as they are ‘team ones’, but I’ll be trying to keep Jak especially on his toes!”
