Former US Portsmouth RFC coach joins newly-promoted Petersfield’s set-up

After being relegated in 2018/19 from London 3 South West, Field stormed to the Hampshire Premier title this year under former Portsmouth coach Jason Ford.

They rattled up a stunning 926-point haul in winning 19 of their 21 games prior to the pandemic forcing an early closure in mid-March.

But the RFU worked out final positions using a points-per-game methodology, and Field were runaway champions - having been 14 points ahead of Alton with three games left when the campaign was halted.

Ford, who left Portsmouth in the summer of 2018, was in his first season as head coach at Field while another ex-Portsmouth player and coach, Jim Pearce, was also heavily involved as a specialist coach at Penns Place.

Now the club have added Matt Wake and Liam Perkins – neither of them a stranger to Hampshire rugby - to the coaching team.

Wake was previously assistant coach at US Portsmouth when they completed a maximum points haul in 2014/15.

They won all 18 of their Hampshire Premier matches, scoring 807 points and conceding only 266 - a plus 541 difference.

Remarkably, they also claimed a bonus point for scoring four or more tries in all 18 matches - winning the title with a 14-point margin over Millbrook.

In addition to his three seasons at USP, Wake has also coached at Portsmouth University and Gosport & Fareham.

Wake has also coached in the London Irish Developing Player Programme and within the Hampshire set-up for the last five years, including managing the county Under-20s who made the national semi-finals a few years ago.

Perkins has been the captain of Worthing for the last four years - the Sussex club playing in National League 2 South, the fourth tier of English club rugby.

He will become a regular presence at the senior sides' training sessions during 2020/21 before he hangs up his boots and starts the transition from playing to coaching.

Once retired, Perkins will become more involved with Petersfield in 2021/22.

In addition to his Worthing career, Perkins has also played Championship and National League rugby with Newbury and National 1 level rugby with Ealing. He also also had a stint at Havant.

He has also played representative rugby for Hampshire through the junior age groups, captaining the Under-20s squad.

He made his senior men’s debut for Hampshire when he was 21, and was made skipper in his first season. where he was made skipper for his debut season.

Though he did not play in Hampshire’s County Cup final win at Twickenham in 2016, he was in the side that lost the final 12 months later to Leicestershire and also the one that reached the semi-finals in 2018.

Ford said: ‘Both Jim and I have watched Liam and followed his progress over many years. We were so impressed with him as a player from a young age that we asked him to captain the full men’s county side as a 21-year-old.

‘He has gone on to big things within the game and we are looking forward to working with him as he starts his coaching badges.

‘As well as this, we are looking forward to him challenging both the players and the coaches with his knowledge and experience of ideas and techniques.’

Pearce added: ‘I have known Liam for at least 12 years and have followed his rugby progression with great interest whilst also becoming good friends with him.

‘Having known of his ambition to move into coaching, it was felt right to offer him the opportunity to join us.

‘I’m pleased he’s taken up this chance, I look forward to working with him and leveraging his skills.’

Perkins said: ‘I am really excited to be starting my coaching journey with Petersfield, and happy I am being given the opportunity whilst maintaining involvement as a player at national league level.

‘Having worked with both Jim and Jason in the past, I am keen to learn from them and hopefully pass on some useful bits in my capacity as a coach.’

Field chairman Stuart Barden said: ‘We believe Matt and Liam are great fits for our senior section coaching team and are excellent additions as we continue preparations for next season.’