Rugby preview: Maids eye Camberley clash with both sides seeking consistency after mixed starts

Photo credit: Paul Morgan

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Maidenhead are back at Braywick Park on Saturday for the visit of Camberley RFC, usually a terrific tussle of contrasting styles, however, their visitors haven’t yet found the dominant form they’ve displayed in previous campaigns.

Maids have had a mixed start to their Regional 1 South Central campaign, losing heavily on the opening day to much-fancied CS Stags before flipping their fortunes to thrash Hammersmith & Fulham 47-15 at Braywick Park in their next encounter.

Last time out they lost a much closer and more even affair 26-14 to derby rivals Bracknell RFC and they head into this clash having lost two of their opening three.

Camberley have been one of the frontrunners in previous seasons - and may expect to get back there over the course of the campaign - however they come into this clash just above Maids in ninth place and David Mobbs-Smith’s side would move above them with a second home victory.

Camberley have also had an unsettling start to the season, losing 42-46 at home to London Scottish Lions in their opening match, exposing their defensive frailties, while Worthing then beat them 54-31 in their second match. They did look a lot more solid as they claimed a first win with a 19-12 success over Farnham at home in their last match, but Maids should feel they can get at what’s looked a porous backline so far this season.

Maids season so far has also been blighted with injury. New centre signing Alex Ropeti is expected to miss the rest of the season with a bad shoulder injury, while prop forward Elio Mandozzi, who was forced off in the early stages of their match at Bracknell, is expected to miss this weekend’s clash. Captain Alex French has also missed the opening games so far and Mobbs-Smith doesn’t expect him to feature against Camberley.

Windsor have so far struggled to adjust to life in the Regional 2 Thames Division, losing their opening three matches to Teddington (12-31), Aylesbury (59-19) and Beaconsfield (29-45) however, head coach Andy Symons will be hoping they’ll be much more competitive at home to Harpenden on Saturday.

Promoted to the division as one of the best runners-up in the region, Windsor are looking to give themselves a foothold in the division, having fallen bottom of the table with only one point to their name. Whether they can rise to the challenge remains to be seen. however, home games against a mid-table side such as Harpenden will be a good indicator of how close they are to their rivals.

Oxford Harlequins 2nd, promoted as champions from Windsor’s division last season, are suffering similar issues so far having lost all three of their matches.

Marlow picked up their first win of the campaign with a 53-22 victory over the Harlequins in their last match at Riverwoods, and Kev O’Byrne’s side will be looking to build on that when they visit Grasshoppers on Saturday.

Defeats to Belsize Park (36-15) and Beaconsfield (27-12), both on the road, wasn’t the ideal start to the season, but they looked far more fluent at home to Quins.

They cut loose in the second half, running in 33 points having only been 20-17 ahead at the interval.

Like Marlow, Grasshoppers have won only one of their first three games, at home to London Irish Wild Geese in their opening encounter (42-35). Since then, they’ve been beaten 14-31 at home to London Brunel and suffered a 57-14 reverse at leaders Belsize Park.