Following a week off Sandbach return to action when they travel to Nottingham, to play round 7 in the league at Paviors. Sandbach should have a few players back available for selection, who were absent for the Oundle game, but sadly they have now lost the services of flanker Liam Carpenter, who has returned to Germany with his work. The week off has also given the squad the chance of a bit of rest and recovery time, but a quality performance from the Saxons, in winning away at Rossendale last weekend, will also have given the selectors food for thought.

Paviors are in their second season at this level, having performed creditably first time out, where a lively back division certainly caught the eye. This time they have found it a little bit harder going, having won two out of six so far, which may be a result of teams being more aware of their strengths and vulnerabilities. Certainly, there is a lot to be admired about the Burntstump Hill outfit, with Sandbach having a lot in common with them, in how they are structured, a strong local identity of home-grown players and being founded as an Old Boys club from High Pavement Grammar School in Nottingham. Indeed, the comparison even goes as far as they play in similar shirts, resulting in the Bach being in their change kit on Saturday. Like Sandbach we can expect a warm welcome, and entertaining competitive game, in pleasant surroundings. Let’s hope we can keep our decent start to the season going.