By Benj Guy

After a gruelling and hard-working handful of months, the boys in Red and Green return to the field this weekend, facing off against a new opponent in Horsham, travelling over to West Sussex for the fixture.

The team have been consistently training Tuesdays and Thursdays, with an abundance of the squad also getting in to the gym to bolster their fitness and physique, so they will be looking forward to putting their work into practice against a formidable opponent such as Horsham.

Hailing from West Sussex, Horsham currently compete in Regional 1 South Central, the league above Petersfield as of the 2024/25 season, where they finished 11th last season, against some fierce competition with teams such as Havant, Camberley and London Welsh all fighting for the top spot. Despite finishing 11th in the league, Horsham finished their campaign with a win against the eventual league winners, Havant, so this is a team that can certainly play a winning brand of rugby and are definitely not to be underestimated. With a state-of-the-art 4G pitch, the weather will not have as much impact as it would like, hopefully contributing to a healthy and free flowing game of rugby.

The Petersfield squad will undoubtedly be revelling at the chance to play at such a high level, with aims of seeing Horsham in the same league next year. There will be a large team making the journey over to Horsham on Saturday, with the coaching team looking to experiment and try a variation of new moves, tactics and player combinations. This is the first preseason fixture for both teams, so it will be a strong indicator of how hard the teams have worked over the last few months, and a great chance to see those who should have done some more fitness!

Regardless of the outcome, this is a great chance and opportunity for the Reds to learn from their opposition and come to grasps with the higher level of rugby that they are entering into this season, as they approach the Regional 2 South Central with high ambition after a storming year in 2023/24 which saw them unbeaten and crowned league champions.

There are a few fresh faces in the squad, with Ethan Horsfall, Cameron Duffus and Cameron Wheatcroft all getting a run out for the first time.

For our ever faithful support, the game will be hosted at Horsham Rugby Club with kick-off to commence at 15:00. We hope to see as many of you there as possible to cheer the team on!