Saturday, 14th August- Esher 7’s took part in an invitational game against our London rivals, London Welsh, before the Middlesex 7’s final at Twickenham. Jonny Hylton’s men did the club proud smashing the Welsh with a powerful display at Rugby HQ. It was my first time working at Twickenham and what a place to be!
Sunday, 15th August-Our first preseason friendly game saw us take on a fully loaded Saracens side, with only one change to the side that narrowly lost the Premiership Play Off Final last season. That change saw Scotland’s Kelly Brown start in the back row for them.
It was a heavy loss, 85-10, no complaints, Saracens will be in the Play Offs again this season and it will be a good side that stops them, my guys struggled with the pace and power of the game but at times showed grit and determination. It must be noted that we were over cooked going into the game, still recovering from the huge volume in Italy and the week after, plus a few of the boys would have been tired form the 7’s the day before. I am not saying we would have won by any stretch but we are looking at peaking for Moseley away on the 28th of August and that is what we will do!!! Its a steep learning curve coming form demolishing all before us in National 1 to playing Saracens but a curve we will to climb together as a squad.
Saturday 21st saw us take in French side Lille in the last of our preseason friendlies.
I was delighted with our fitness and pace over the 80 mins. Some of the tries scored were top drawer. This squad has much more physicality then previous Esher squads, there were massive hits put in by Rowly, JC and Stitcher. The 45 17 win sees us in a position to build momentum. Today sees the squad lift heavy before unloading for the rest of the week in preperation for Moseley away this Saturday.
Elko's Blog 