National 2 East
THIS season is a golden opportunity for one of last season’s title contenders to take advantage and win promotion as no team has dropped down from National One into the East.
Both Esher and Blackheath bounced straight back up in the last few seasons and Barnes head coach Jack Heald, whose side were runners-up to Esher last term, believes four teams will battle it out for the title.
He told The Rugby Paper: “Dorking are always a good outfit, they are well coached and similar to us in having a consistent core. Armand (Roux) does a good job down there, they’ve recruited heavily, got Luke Baldwin at nine who’s a good player and their new signing at 10 Tom Hardwick is impressive, so they will be tough.
“I’d expect Tonbridge Juddians to push on, some good players from Worthing have gone there. Bury St Edmunds are always good and have recruited lots of players from abroad. They’ll be our main three contenders; Dorking, Bury, Tonbridge, judging by what other people are putting out on their media sites.
“You need a lot of things to go your way with the health of your squad fundamentally. Our goal is to make top three at Christmas and then see where we’re at. We haven’t set any goals further than that. There’s a big push from the clubs because no National One team has come down. There’ll be a handful with a shout at Christmas, so it should be pretty exciting.”
Barnes feel they’ve learnt some valuable lessons during defeats to third tier sides Rosslyn Park and Blackheath recently in pre-season. Their former captain Josh Davies has retired and has been replaced by back row Rory Kassapian, who has been at the club for five seasons.
Heald is pleased with his strength in depth across the board, having retained second row Joe Murphy, who appeared alongside Davies in The Rugby Paper’s Dream Team, as the Londoners hope to go one better this time around.
He added: “We’ve recruited up front, there’s good competition at half-back. It’s going to be very difficult across the squad to pick a team next week because competition for places is tough, so it won’t be a nice week to be a coach. We’ve got to pick 20 players from 60 but having competition for places is key, particularly when you get into the depths of a 26game season.”
Despite listing his predicted frontrunners, Heald is cautious of all the sides in the league, especially newly promoted Oxford Harlequins and Colchester in particular.
“You’re looking at a league that’s going to be tougher than ever,” said Heald. “Oxford and Colchester have been established at level five for quite a long time rather than being bolters, so they are going to be tough. A few others have been established for quite a long time now and have been challenging before. The standard of National Two, particularly the East will be higher than ever.”
Barnes host Oxford on the opening day, who will be hoping for consolidation following their return to the National Leagues. Fellow newcomers Colchester travel to last season’s mid-table side Canterbury, whose blindside flanker Tyler Oliver can play across the back row and will be a key man after missing the second half of last season through injury. The Essex based side, led by South African Craig Burrows, have been busy recruiting players and are likely to field an almost brand new backline this term, utlising their close proximity to Bury St Edmunds and Burrows’ previous involvement as backs coach at the Suffolk side.
Guernsey finished 10th last season after losing their last three which cost them a top half place. They begin the new campaign at home to Worthing, who were fortunate to survive relegation ending up in 12th, seven points above the drop zone.
Havant are also a fresh face in the league having risen through the regional divisions and Rob Matthews’ men begin their 2024/25 at home to last season’s 11th place side Sevenoaks.
Old Albanian finished eighth last term and will be hoping to push on into the top half but face a difficult match first up at home to a Henley Hawks side that ended the campaign in fourth after going unbeaten in their last four outings.
Tonbridge Juddians will be hoping to compete at the top after finishing fifth and are involved in a mouthwatering match at home to last year’s third-place Dorking in the standout fixture of the opening day.
Westcombe Park finished ninth last season after winning promotion back to the National Leagues and host a Bury St Edmunds side that started the campaign on fire but endured a miserable losing run in the second half of the campaign which ultimately ended with them finishing sixth.
