Family affair sees Havant make it a happy return
HAVANT returned to the National Leagues in style after a 15-year hiatus last weekend as they beat Sevenoaks in front of an impressive bumper crowd.
Co-head coach Will Knight, who works alongside Rob Matthews, takes great pride in leading the south coast club having played for Havant 50 times himself.
It’s a family affair with Knight’s three sons – flyhalf Jacob, player-backs coach Reuben and cross-coder Joel – all playing for Havant’s 1st XV and much like their dad they’re heavily invested in their club.
Knight told The Rugby Paper: “Jacob is playing 10 at the moment and scored a penalty on Saturday. In his early days both he and his brother Reuben went off to do Ace Programmes with London Irish. Jacob played with Sutton & Epsom before returning to Havant.
“Joel has been with the club all the way through, got a degree down at Cardiff Met and went on to play in the Rugby League Student World Cup. Reuben went off to play with Ealing Trailfinders before returning to play at his home club and also takes on roles as a backs coach.”
Havant opened their National Two East campaign with a 25-15 victory in front of 803 fans which was the highest attendance across the fourth tier, and only beaten by Plymouth Albion in National One.
Knight said: “From the players’ point of view there was excitement and nerves as they worked their way through the game. They’re a self-critical group which is one of the reasons why they keep improving regularly. Despite not getting the bonus point last Saturday, the team are strongly focused on looking at the areas of the game that needed improvement but of course were very pleased to get the win.
“From a player and a coaching point of view that’s a healthy attitude and from a club point of view, there is a huge amount of excitement.
“For the supporters who have supported Havant through thick and thin, they are thrilled to see their club back at this level and be successful in game one.”
Knight says the number one aspiration for Havant this season is to remain in the division and keep building for the future.
He said: “We’ve made a good start and that’s really positive – we wanted to get off with a win. The challenges ahead will be huge and I believe we will meet those challenges. We have the right motivations and looking at the league there are two or three teams that I expect to be really pushing for promotion.
“There will be a number of teams in the mix to be in the middle of the table and to avoid the bottom three.
“As a club, we’ve had 53 new players join us since the start of the season from all over the area and of those there are a good 14-15 already challenging for first team places.”
