Havant RFC Academy delighted to be ‘guinea pigs’ as they return to training

Around 50 under-17 and under-18 players returned to Hooks Lane at the weekend to train on one of the club’s grass pitches.

The senior players are preparing to start back towards the end of this month following last season’s London 1 South title-winning campaign.

Academy head coach Steve Woolcombe said: ‘We are basically the guinea pigs for the whole club.

‘Hopefully we can some learn some valuable lessons, and everyone can learn from our mistakes if we make any.

‘The guidelines we followed will basically be the same ones the senior players follow when they come back.’

At present, all recreational rugby clubs are at step 2 of a six-step RFU ‘return to rugby’ routemap.

At step 2 no more than six players are allowed in any one training group and there is no contact, no face to face involvement and limited sharing of equipment.

Havant divided a pitch into four quarters, with six players and a coach in each quarter.

The usual six Academy coaches were joined by others who normally coach younger age groups at the club in order to make up the necessary numbers.

‘A lot of clubs will just start back with some fitness work,’ said Woolcombe. ‘But I wanted to make ours a bit more challenging.’

That meant a two-hour plus session incorporated a variety of drills, before the introduction of some fitness work ‘wiped everyone out in the heat.’

Woolcombe has been head coach at the Academy for a few years, having previously worked with the first team at Petersfield.

He is also involved with Guinness Premiership club London Irish, and is head coach of their under-15s.

When he moved to Havant the Academy boasted just over 30 youngsters, and now they have more than 60.

For the first time, they are looking to run three teams in 2020/21, having run two last season. They also ran two in 2018/19, but at times struggled to fill a 2nd XV.

‘We’ve been building up the player base which is fantastic.’ said Woolcombe.

‘I’ve got a fantastic coaching team, and we put on sessions which are player-focussed and I think the players warm to that.

‘There’s a sprinkling of players in the first team squad that have come through the academy.

‘The first team are up to level 5 now and they want to push on from there. If they get to level 4 that’s virtually a semi-pro club, and a strong academy will be invaluable.’

Havant are looking to regularly run a 4th XV in 2020/21, with academy coach Phil Dennis having been appointed team manager.

‘The transition from age range rugby to adult rugby can be significant.’ said Woolcombe. ‘The 4th XV will be a good start for that transition, and having Phil there will be perfect.’

Havant’s academy will continue to train every Sunday until the RFU routemap moves onto step 3 - featuring larger groups, relaxing of social distancing rules, and close contact allowed.

Once step 3 is reached, they will look to train midweek as well on the 3G pitch.

The Hampshire Colts League season - Havant play in the top tier of four divisions - normally starts around September.

That is unlikely this year, with the current expectation that competitive senior rugby games - the final step on the RFU routemap - will be allowed to resume some time in October.