Following last weekend's lacklustre performance against an excellent Barnes side, Bees face their sternest test of the season when they travel to Berkshire to play Rams RFC.

Rams have won 26 of the 28 games they have played, accruing an impressive 129 points. 25 of them being bonus points (24 try scoring and 1 losing). Rampant Rams have scored 1037 and conceded 427 points, giving them the best attacking and defensive records in the league. Their two defeats were on the road at Old Albanian and Tonbridge Juddians. Last weekend they recorded a comfortable 21-45 victory at Clifton, to wrap up the National League 2 South title.

Old Redingensians RFC (now Rams RFC) was founded in 1924, by old boys of Reading Grammar School.

In 1968, it became an open club. The following year saw “Old” dropped from its title.

The nickname “Rams” was adopted to reflect the club's connection with Reading, the animal featuring in the town's coat of arms.

In 2006/07, Redingensians won league South West 2 East and were promoted to South West 1, Tier 5 Rugby, for the first time in their history. In 2013/14, Redingensians finished second in National League 3 South West, only to lose their play off game against Old Elthamians 17-10. The following season Redingensians won National League 3 South West, thus gaining promotion to National League 2 South. Last season, they finished third on 112 points. The club changed its name officially to Rams RFC in May 2018, having received approval from the RFU.

In conjunction with the University of Reading, the Rams Academy has been established. It aims to recruit and develop promising young players from the local community.

Apropos team news, there are two changes to the Bees starting XV this week. Corey Venus moves to the left wing in place of the injured Matt Dight, and Ben Phillips comes in at full-back. The replacements are JP Nel, Stewart Pearl, Alex Willis, Matt Spink, and Luke Smith.

Bees squad v Rams RFC (Away, 2.30pm KO):- 1. Joe Foreman, 2. Zane Raimondi,
3. Nick Bingham, 4. Keanan Cooper, 5. Andrew Weaver, 6. Ashley Scriven, 7. Marcus Brown, 8. Umraan Jadwat, 9. Jack Jolly (c), 10. Harry O'Brien, 11. Corey Venus, 12. Nathan Tilsley, 13. Dan Kelly, 14. Adam Nunney, 15. Ben Phillips,
16. JP Nel, 17. Stewart Pearl, 18. Alex Willis, 19, Matt Spink, 20. Luke Smith,

SAT NAV - RG4 6TQ

The Bees need our support more than ever, so please try to attend this game. It really will help the lads go the extra mile!

COYB