The new season starts today with a home match against Southend, friends and rivals for some years now. We extend a warm welcome to their players, officials and supporters.

Our Regional 1 London and South East league has three new teams this year in Medway, Westcliff and Colchester. We have played the latter two before at this level and we look forward to seeing them again. Medway will be an interesting (and long) trip. The league will be spiced up and, for some, extended by the introduction of promotion and relegation play-offs.

Usually in ‘From the Touchline’, I update you on recent 1st XV matches. Obviously, there is nothing to report yet, but I feel I should take some time to remind you of amagnificent performance in the last game of last year. Needing a point to ensure safety, Chiltern beat high-flying Sudbury 54-24. Scoring the fourth try that secured a bonus point really let the pressure off, and the boysran in four more brilliant scores. It was the culmination of a very strong end to the season, so let’s hope that they pick up where they left off. Two strong pre-season wins away at Banbury and Bracknell suggest that they may do.

There have been some changes in personnel over the summer. Rich Hoskins remains in place as head coach, but business commitments have forced Mike Smith to step down. We wish him all the best and hope to see him at Ash Grove again soon. Tom Pierce has joined the coaching team, and the players have reacted very favourably to his fresh input over the summer. They have also enjoyed the S&C work that Jack Green has done with them, and they look fit on it too. Player-wise, for various reasons, Jacques O’Driscoll, Alex Bower, Mike Phillips, Raz Dranca and Kaspar Strugar are among fourteen players who have moved on and we wish them all the best. An almost equal number of players have joined or come back to Chiltern.
Today making their Debut are:
Sammy Sinclair, Louie Mould and Harry Stevens

Sammy Sinclair has come through the system at Amersham and Chiltern playing representative rugby as well as being a wasps academy graduate. He then went away to Cardiff met uni where he represented the 1st team in the BUCS super league.
He has moved back home and is working in London. He has fitted right in with squad where he can play wing or centre. He has a great attitude and has been a great addition.

Louie has joined us from Aylesbury, made a great impact at 15 and has integrated into the squad well. RH watched Louie play for the Men’s Buckinghamshire team and he really impressed him with his game understanding with and without the ball he has a great boot and communicates well.

Harry has joined us from Windsor and has been another great addition to the squad. He was part of the London Irish and Harlequins academy. Harry has a great skill set he can play across the backline and has an old head on young shoulders he plays with no fear and we are sure he will take it in his stride today.
Good luck to them all.

The 2nd XV begin their season with an away game at Milton Keynes. Dave Cole carries on as skipper, and Andy Saunders and Dan Burke manage the team. They will play at the same level, but the South-West RFU have revamped the league, changing BBO2 from a North/South split to an East/West one. This allows us to get back to playing more of our traditional opponents, with games against Beaconsfield, Chesham, Maidenhead, Marlow and Slough to come. We also play Risborough, with their cohort of ex-Chiltern boys. The team is confident it can do well, and rightly so.

Finally, a word about today’s pre-match events. A Little Street Kitchen are continuing to feed us this season,and I for one am looking forward to their delicious fare(the envy of other clubs). Our guests will be joined by the U13s and their parents, for the traditional tie presentation marking their transition to fifteen-a-side rugby.

And outside on the field, we welcome the touring North Walsham Colts, who will be taking on our own lads in a curtain-raiser to the 1stXV game.

It’s good to be back!
Huw