Last time we played Haywards Heath at Whiteman’s Green was in London 1 South on 15th March 2014. We came away with a 31-15 win that day as Haywards Heath finished bottom of the table. They’d enjoyed a lengthy spell in the National Leagues but had had some difficulties over the past couple of seasons. After being relegated from London 1, they withdrew from London 2 South East before the start of the 2014/15 season to consolidate weakened 1st and 2nd XVs into a single team in Sussex Intermediate (now Sussex 2).

Since then, they’ve had a lot of success and have worked their way back up (including games against the Hove Beefeaters in Sussex 1 in the 2015/16 season). They’re back up to 2 teams and will play in London 2 South East, the league they dropped down from in the first place. Three promotions in three seasons is an impressive haul. When they first dropped out of the league back in 2014, they talked about rebuilding momentum. While the promotion path hasn’t been simple for them (they had to win the promotion playoff against the runners up of Kent 1 in 2015/16 and finished 2nd in London 3, just four points ahead of Thanet) it’s good to welcome them back. There have been a number of great encounters between the two clubs and we’re hoping Saturday will be no exception.

So far, Heath have won 1, lost 2 in the league, but their losses have been by 1 point and 3 points, so very tightly contested games. They’re also unbeaten at home. Hove are still sitting at the top of the table with three wins from three and Head Coach Sandy Robertson is hoping to extend this run.

“We’ve just had our first three-game review; so looking back at the last three games and looking ahead to the next three. We’ve had a look at some of our weaker areas and the lads have set themselves the challenge of staying at the top of the table by the time we go to Twickenham for our cup match.”

Squad News

Hove make four changes to the side that beat Dover last week. Reece Cavozzi (concussion) and Jack Silcocks (ankle) are both out due to injury. Luke Torres is away on international duty with Gibraltar (congrats Luke!) and Carles Casanova Galindo is unavailable. Ben Anderson and Kyle Woollard come in to fill out the pack and Jerome Pye and Andy Chapman come on to the bench.

Player to Watch

Last week’s player to watch, Rob Ward, picked up another try to take his total for the season to four. An internal battle between him and Martin Macdonald is forming as Martin also took his try total to four against Dover. A strong runner at inside centre, he’s been ever present for the last couple of seasons. With a direct running line and the ability to keep powering through despite a couple of bodies in his way, he’s caused a lot of damage to opposing backlines so far this season.

Squad List

1. Declan Peake
2. Pat Andrews
3. Adi Shergold
4. Carl Buckland
5. Kyle Woollard
6. Chris Knott
7. Ben Anderson
8. Rob Ward
9. Rob Biggs
10. Phil Dugard
11. Nick Paddenburg
12. Martin Macdonald
13. Ryan Morlen
14. David Sparkhall
15. Sam Whiting
Replacements
16. Ryan Storer
17. Andy Chapman
18. Jerome Pye