RUGBY: Captain Arthur aims for Raider's consistency

IT has been a mixed season so far for Worthing Raiders Rugby Club. They head into the Christmas break 10th in National 2 South and captain James Arthur now has one word for the new year "consistency".
By The Newsroom
Published 22nd Dec 2009, 10:17 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 00:58 BST

Arthur took over the captaincy after Jody Levett retired at the end of last season, and now leads out a new-look Raiders side from this time last year, when they were locked in a relegation battle.

Will Green took over as head coach in the summer, from Ian Davies, and his experience has helped Raiders to a number of closely-fought wins this season, in particular over high-flyers Rosslyn Park.

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Arthur now hopes they can push on in 2010 and get a mid-table spot.

He said: "We have improved a lot on last season and with the strong squad, we now have a mid-table hope.

"Some performances have been exceptional, while others not so good, which are the ones which have cost us a higher spot. We need consistency and a good run of back-to-back results."

Raiders have been hampered with a huge injury list throughout the season. Long-term injury victims are Will Harris and Matt McLean, while Greg Walker, Will Marshall and Paul Dunkley have spent a number of weeks on the sidelines.

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Charlie McGowan, Adam Halsey, Arthur, Will Stutchbury and more recently, new signing Semisi Taulava, have also missed games through injury.

Arthur added: "A highlight for me was the first game of the season when we beat Southend, as well as the Rosslyn Park victory. We all know we can beat the bigger teams and we're not a lower half side. To prove this, we just need a little bit of that consistency."

Raiders' home match against Shelford on Saturday was postponed, until February 6, owing to Roundstone Lane being covered in snow.

Despite not having a game until January 2, there will be little time for rest over Christmas as Raiders have a busy training schedule. They have two sessions this week, with two more planned before the new year. Arthur said: "It's a lot of commitment but it's what we need to do.

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We'll run ourselves into the ground to cancel out any over indulgences."

Littlehampton Rugby Club's home Sussex League Division 2 West match against Horsham 2nd on Saturday was postponed owing to a frozen pitch.

In the Sussex Intermediate League, Shoreham's home match with Newick and Norfolk Arms' game against Hellingly were also called off.

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