After a challenging fixture against Horsham last week, the boys in Red and Green are back on the road for the last weekend of August, with two separate teams making the trip over to Brighton to face the Brighton Blues (1st XV) and Brighton Athletic (2nd XV).

Just like last weeks opponents, Horsham, the Brighton Blues also compete in Regional 1 South Central, the division above Petersfield’s 1st XV for the 2024/25 season. After a difficult match last week, the team have been working hard and looking to develop on their shortcomings from the previous match.

The Blues finished in 7th last year in their league, higher than Horsham, so this could be an impressive step up in calibre for the team, who will look to make serious progress in their campaign for back to back promotions this year. After facing Worthing last week, a familiar team to a lot of Petersfield players, the Blues will also be looking to start firing on all cylinders before the first league fixture against Hammersmith & Fulham next week.

There is a slight difference in the team from last week, as this week will see two squads, with a designated 1st and 2nd team to take to the field in BN1. The mighty 2s will be facing Brighton Athletic who compete in Counties 2 Sussex, so this should produce a balanced and exciting fixture, with the weather forecasting a sunny day tomorrow, allowing both squads to play an expansive game of rugby between them.

Delving into the squads for this week, the 1st XV sees three new debutants, with Jon Hamblin, second row, and Jack Janaway, blindside flanker, making their first starts for the club and will be looking to impress amongst the Petersfield faithful – a congratulations to the pair of them and we hope to see more from them this season! Furthermore, Tommy Allen is set to make his debut from the bench for the 1s, another successful academy graduate who has impressed the coaches this preseason and will be looking to make a mark on the squad this upcoming year.

The 2nd XV sees a return of some familiar faces, as Lewis McGarr and Carl Sharrock making their first cameos since their injuries of last year, so we welcome them back as well as their presence in the engine room, which will certainly not go unmissed. Likewise, there is a handful of new names in the 2s, with Sam Janaway, George Kingsbury and Adam Dawes all earning a runout this weekend!

Impressively, the club boasts a number of family connections in the squad this week with: the Duffus connection in the 1s, a Janaway brother pairing, a McGarr dominated second row and most noticeably a father and son pairing in the 2s, with Ethan Horsfall getting the chance to play with his father, Jon!

1st XV Lineup:
1. Sam Brown
2. Nic Wilde
3. Harley Orr
4. Jon Hamblin*
5. Oli Hunt
6. Jack Janaway*
7. Karter Whittock
8. Matt Momber (C)
9. Alex Duffus
10. Nick Blumlein
11. Seb Tuff
12. Will Mathews
13. Cameron Duffus
14. Toby Colwood
15. Joe Knowles

Replacements:
16. Jamie Hobbs
17. Tommy Allen*

2nd XV Lineup:
1. Mark Butcher
2. Sam Janaway*
3. Will Cross
4. Lewis McGarr
5. Harry McGarr
6. Cam Wheatcroft
7. Carl Sharrock
8. Ben Thomas
9. George Kingsbury*
10. Jay Bremner (C)
11. Adam Dawes*
12. Andy Wood
13. Ethan Horsfall
14. Monty Newton
15. Ethan Ogilvie

Replacements:
16. Joe Mayell
17. Jon Horsfall
18. Gerry Devlin
19. Jorge Villalon
20. Alex Evans

*denotes debut