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Matt Williams is calling on his Chinnor side to take their game to the next level

Matt Williams is calling on his Chinnor side to take their game to the next level when they face Richmond on Saturday.

The Oxfordshire club head into the National League 1 fixture on the back of a 17-15 win at Blackheath in the opening weekend of the campaign.

While Chinnor were satisfied with their performance in south-east London, they are fully aware that a tougher task awaits at Richmond, who were relegated from the Championship last season.

And director of rugby Williams is urging his side to front up as they eye back-to-back away wins.

He said: “It’s a different challenge this week.

“Obviously we’re going to another ground where there is a big expectation on the home side.

“They play very differently to Blackheath.

“They’re a very physical team, they’re a big side, they try to boss teams up front and they have a very good goal kicker.

“I think this week will be about controlling their pack and then playing more rugby, as opposed to last week when it was about playing less rugby and being more dominant.

“So it’s about taking our structures from pre-season to the next level now, keeping the same ferocity that we showed up front and being a little bit better and clinical with the ball in hand.”

Chinnor named ten debutants in last weekend’s starting XV and needed to dig deep against a battling Blackheath.

Williams knows it will take time for his side to gel, but he has been encouraged by the early signs.

He said: “I’m obviously pleased with last week’s result.

“It would have been nice to have got the bonus point, but the most important thing was to get the win.

“We left a lot of points out there and had the majority of the possession, but that will come.

“We’re a new team and we’ve got to come together as quickly as possible.

“But we were abrasive, we were physical, and we controlled the game, even though Blackheath could have nicked it at any point because the score was so close.”

Chinnor are boosted by the return of scrum-half Jake Ashby, who has been out with concussion for a month.

However, this Saturday comes too soon for winger Josh Hodson (shoulder) and lock Ehize Ehizode (scaphoid), who are at least a week away from being available for selection.

SATURDAY’S SQUAD

Chinnor (v Richmond, away): from Ashby, Barnes, Dancer, Duncan, Elder, Fidler, Flinn, George, Goss, Harries, Jeannot, Kirwan, Manning, May, McNulty, C Ryan, W Ryan, Selway, Sheriff, Southworth, Thomas, Treviranus, Watson, Worrall, Yawayawa.

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