H&B confident of good start

HASTINGS & Bexhill Rugby Club expect to get off to a flying start in their Sussex Division One opener away to Crawley side St Francis on Saturday (September 22).

Assistant coach Rob Hamilton said: We don t know much about St Francis except they lost at Rye last Saturday so we expect to beat to them.

Hamilton added that there will be a strong divide in the quality of rugby in the league this season.

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He pointed to Heathfield, Crowborough and Chichester as H&B s main promotion rivals, and indicated that there would be a clutch of teams struggling just to avoid relegation.

H&B lost to Gillingham Anchorians in their first competitive match of the season in the RFU Intermediate Cup.

A couple of early tries for Chichester forced H&B to play catch-up rugby for the rest of the game.

Ben Campbell, Steve Kimber, Paul Sandeman and man of the match Steve McManus all touched down, but the game finished 39-26 in the Kent side s favour.

H&B still need to find a replacement for Australian Mark Patmore at fly half, who left the club to play in Canada at the end of last season.

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