Bees supporters will get the chance tomorrow (Saturday 22nd August KO 3pm) to see first-hand just how much progress has been made by the squad and performance team over the summer months.

The Bees welcome National League 3 South West outfit Dings Crusaders to Portway, a side well known to supporters and featuring former Bees fly half Mark Woodrow. Dings suffered a similar fate to Bees last season and find themselves playing Level 5 rugby this season.

With their first pre season run out under their belts last week, Head of Rugby Ian Matthews will be looking for his squad to show supporters just how much progress has been made over the summer.

As well as 20 or so familiar faces from last season, it will be the first chance for those supporters who couldn’t make the trip to Chinnor last week to see some new squad members in action.

The very latest signing – confirmed just this week - is Wayne Child. South African by birth, he has been living in UK since 2008. Says Ian Matthews; “Wayne is a centre with a proven track record at National 2 with Bishops Stortford. He is a full blooded player who offers a real mix at 12, carrying, passing and playing a running game.”

Ian also highlighted some other potential points of interest for the Dings game.“In the front row the battle continues to secure front row berths with Nick Bingham, Jake Hayden-Wright and Liam Dunne all competing for the tight-head shirt. At scrum half look out for Martyn Hooker too – he’s an electric Kiwi No.9, with a strong all round game.”

“As a coaching team we are looking forward to seeing the triumvirate of Leach, Forder and Scriven in the back row for the first time in pre-season., whilst in the backs Ian Briggs has looked extremely sharp in training.”

On the coaching front, Saturday’s game will also be the first opportunity for fans to meet Lee Cassell, who has joined the club as Backs Coach. Lee, who was Head Coach at Broadstreet last season, won Wales Under-19 honours before playing for Nuneaton, Kenilworth and Warwickshire. He has also previously coached the Warwickshire and Midlands Schools representative sides, as well as Warwick University.

“Lee brings a wealth of local knowledge to the coaching team and has made an immediate impact with the players. Lee will focus on the back division and improving core skills,” according to Ian.

“Saturday will be a great opportunity for the whole squad to move up a notch from last week’s game. We will be trying out some more combinations as we look to zero in on what might be our strongest XV for when the league campaign starts in earnest. Level 5 is different to Level 4 in that there are only three subs rather than five, so that means that those on the bench need to be versatile and able to cover more than one position.”

ENDS