Maidenhead RFC handed tough start against several of the 'bookies favourites'

Greg Smith with a conversion attempt against CS Stags last season.

--

With tough league games to follow against recently relegated Wimbledon, big-spending London Welsh, and perennial challengers Camberley RFC, David Mobbs-Smith knows it's imperative for Maidenhead to get off to a solid start in their opening game at Horsham on September 7.

Maids have been handed an extremely tough start to their Regional 1 South Central Division, with the head coach believing they'll face four of the bookies’ favourites for the title in their opening five matches.

Getting off to a good start at a side they finished above last season in Horsham is therefore crucial, however, they came unstuck there last season.

Correcting the side's poor away form will also be massively important if the side are to improve on their lower half finish in the last campaign.

Before the competitive games get underway, Maids are set to play a couple of friendlies against Treochy from Wales on Saturday, August 17 and Amersham & Chiltern on Friday, August 23. The squad is set to return for pre-season training on July 9.

“We’ll want to get a good start on the road,” said Mobbs-Smith.

“That's for sure and it would give us a lot of confidence coming back to Braywick.”

After playing at Horsham, Maids will host relegated Wimbledon on September 14 before visiting London Welsh on September 21 and hosting last season's title challengers Camberley on September 28. They then visit derby rivals Bracknell RFC on October 5.

“A bookie would probably have three of those four teams – along with the following game at Bracknell away – as some of the favourites,” added Mobbs-Smith.

“We’re playing four of the big spenders in the league at the start, apart from Horsham, and we’re playing them in our first five games.

“Yes, we can assume Wimbledon will be X, Y and Z but we don’t know how strong they’ll be.

“I’m sure they’ve attracted players and will be strong, but they’ll be a new team.

“There might be a few of their players who don’t want to come down and play in the league below.

“Usually, the best time to play the best sides in the league is at the start, when they’re still gelling, or at the end when they have nothing left to play for.

“The attitude is slightly different to mid-season when they’re top of the table, or just off the top and they’re throwing everything at each game.

“Camberley dropped down and lost games at the end of last season when they couldn’t win the league. That’s often about how much effort you must put into winning a game of rugby.

“As teams found out when they played us at Braywick, and we were fighting for our lives.

“If you came to our place, it didn’t matter where you were in the league, you were going to get a game and you were going to have a very good chance of losing it, as is what happened to six teams in a row.”