Havant heading to Twickenham in Papa Johns Cup final

Hampshire’s highest-ranked team will take on Yorkshire club Driffield in the Papa Johns Men’s Regional 1 Championship final at the home of English rugby on Sunday (5pm).

Havant have never played at the west London venue before and the match is possibly the biggest in the club’s history.

Head coach Will Knight said: ‘The furthest we’ve ever got before was a semi-final a few years back in the Intermediate Cup. We had a couple of quarter-final opportunities against people like London Irish and others, but a long time ago.

‘I think in many ways it’s huge. There’s been pivotal games in the past; we had a game a long time ago which would have put us into what’s now the Championship.

‘But to appear in a national final and play at Twickenham, and the exposure and profile this competition has offered us is huge. Already we’ve had a lot of interest and hopefully that will continue.

‘It’s the first season in 10-plus years we’ve been able to play in any kind of national competition and we’ve been excited by the opportunity.’

While playing at Twickenham is a first for the club, some of Havant’s players have appeared at the famous old ground in the past.

Knight revealed: ‘A few of the boys were in the County Championship team at Twickenham a couple of seasons ago and we’ve got a few services boys who have played in the Army versus Navy game. But for the majority it’s a dream come true.’

Although keen to enjoy what for many will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, Havant will also be eager to win the match.

Their analyst will spend the week gathering as much information as possible about the opposition and they also picked up a few pointers from their opponents in last weekend’s semi-final, Heath, who play in the same league as Driffield.

In fact, Heath finished runners-up in Regional 1 North East – three points and one position above Driffield.

Knight continued: ‘The first victory is to get there – that’s a massive thing for most of the squad. But we very much would like to get our names on the trophy. We will go up there and try and win the game.

‘Preparation this week will be as normal and I’m confident we will have a strong squad to pick from.

‘It’s going to be about us and the way we play. If we give our best performance, and manage the emotion and excitement, we will have a very good chance. I would like to think we can mix it with anybody at our level in the country.

‘The boys are absolutely buzzing with excitement for the opportunity.’

A couple of players are set to undergo fitness tests, but with the exception of the holidaying Ross Parkin, Havant expect to be close to full strength.

They will be cheered on by five coachloads of supporters and with parking passes available for £10 if booked in advance, many others may well travel up to the capital by car.

The match follows on from the Papa Johns Women’s Junior Cup final (11am) and Papa Johns Women’s Intermediate Cup final (1pm) – and admission is free.

Knight said: ‘We’ve been contacted by people from all over the country and a few from overseas wanting to make the pilgrimage to see Havant play at Twickenham. Hopefully we’ll have a decent crowd up there.’

They certainly had a decent crowd for their 27-21 semi-final victory at home to Heath, with Knight estimating around 1,300 people turned out for what was billed as the biggest game at Hooks Lane for more than two decades.

And they witnessed a cracking contest as Regional 1 South Central runners-up Havant held on to edge out their visitors from West Yorkshire.

Havant got off to a flying start when Joel Knight crashed over out wide in the first five minutes before converting his own try.

Two Knight penalties and three from Heath’s excellent kicker meant the home side led 13-9 at half time.

Havant came out hard at the start of the second period and Reuben Knight finished off a great move under the posts. Joel Knight’s conversion made it 20-9.

The hosts stretched their advantage to 27-9 when Wes Dugan gathered a chip over the top by replacement scrum-half Jake Hewett and touched down. Jacob Knight converted.

But Heath weren’t finished yet. Two tries, the second of which was converted, cut their deficit to just six points with 17 minutes remaining.

Heath continued to apply the pressure, yet Havant produced a staunch defensive effort, aided by a crucial Jerome Trail turnover in the dying moments, to see the game out.

Will Knight said: ‘In that last 20 minutes they came at us with absolutely everything. It was a proper game of rugby and the defence from Havant was unbelievable.

‘Out of the last 20 minutes we probably defended on our line or within five metres of our line for 10 minutes of that and didn’t let them through. It was a huge defensive effort to hold them out and get the victory.

‘Saturday was an absolutely huge day at the club. It was a cracking game and cracking occasion.’

Havant had got to the semi-finals by winning their four-team pool earlier in the month.

A 36-17 success away to Cambridgeshire-based Shelford was followed by a walkover against Harpenden and a pool-clinching 26-24 triumph at home to a Camberley side which finished a point behind them in the league.

‘It’s been a really high-quality competition,’ added Knight.