The Red and Green take to the field for the second fixture of the 2024/25 season, against fellow Hampshire team, Tottonians. Kick-off is at 15:00, with a pre-match lunch commencing at 12:00. If you are interested in a table or joining, please contact stuartbarden@bardenfm.co.uk.

It has been over 20 years, so our records say, since the 1st XV of each team encountered each other in competitive rugby, with some of the players representing Petersfield not even born yet! A well-established team in Hampshire with three teams, Tottonians currently sit at the top of Regional 2 South Central, having comfortably won their first fixture against Chobham, 43-17. With a head of confidence after their impressive start to the league, they will be making the trip to Penns Place with intentions of upsetting second-placed Petersfield.

With Tottonians donning green, white, and black, there should be little confusion between the two teams on Saturday. However, you may mix up the starting loosehead and hooker for Petersfield this week, as the newly recruited Janaway brothers line up to create two-thirds of a front row. The young bloods, combined with seasoned veteran Dan Sargent, will make for a feisty trio, who will look to recreate their performances against North Dorset last week, which provided the backline with clean and quick ball.

Delving back into the pack, there is a league debut for Jon Hamblin at lock, who pairs up with fellow skyscraper Oli Hunt to form a formidable engine room. With Hamblin taking the 5 shirt, this moves fan favourite Franko Tomic into the blindside flanker role – no easy task. Player-coach Liam Perkins retains his 8 shirt and is joined by last season's Player’s Player, Karter Whittock, on the openside. The backline features a few changes, with Will Mathews, Sam Dawes, and Seb Tuff all returning to the starting line-up, and they’ll be raring to go and give the Penns Place terrace something to cheer about!

Forwards coach Andy Patience shared his thoughts ahead of the game: "We learnt a lot from last week's performance, and so training this week has centred on fine-tuning some of our play. Both teams representing Petersfield this weekend are well-prepared and hungry for the chance to test themselves against what will be some tough opposition."

Adding to the excitement, outside centre Sam Dawes said: "The intensity in training this week has been unreal, and we’re looking forward to facing what looks like a strong Tottonians side. I’m also excited to make my outside centre debut, having played primarily in the back three last season. Come on you Rams!"

Full line-up:

1. Sam Janaway
2. Jack Janaway
3. Dan Sargent
4. Oli Hunt
5. Jon Hamblin
6. Franko Tomic
7. Karter Whittock
8. Liam Perkins
9. Alex Duffus
10. Nick Blumlein (C)
11. Miles Sampson
12. Will Mathews
13. Sam Dawes
14. Seb Tuff
15. Joe Knowles

Replacements:

16. Harley Orr
17. Ryan Morse
18. Cam Duffus