Second place up for grabs

The rugby club will travel to Worthing III tomorrow (Saturday) and entertain Burgess Hill on April 9 with the runners-up spot - and with it a promotion play-off against the equivalent finishers in Kent - up for grabs.

Asked if he thinks two bonus point victories will be enough to come second, H&B captain Roberts said: “I think so. Obviously it does go on what the other results are. It will be quite interesting, it’s a good finish to the season.

“It’s all ifs and buts really, but I think we’ve got to come out of both games with bonus points. It will be a good confidence boost for the boys if we can just secure that second place.”

H&B looked to have drifted out of contention when they lost four games out of five in late January and early February, but three successive wins have propelled them right back into the shake-up.

Second-placed Holbrook, third-placed H&B and fourth-placed Burgess Hill are separated by just a solitary point with fifth-placed Pulborough still harbouring a glimmer of hope.

Raring to go after forfeiting their Sussex Bob Rogers Cup semi-final against Eastbourne last weekend, H&B expect to field a similar line-up to that which thrashed Holbrook 76-3 a fortnight ago. But hooker Ben Davies is likely to miss the rest of the campaign through injury.