Jackson thrilled by Hartpury's age and youth blend

CENTRE Craig Jackson says Hartpury RFC are striking the right balance ahead of the National Two South visit of Worthing tomorrow.

John Barnes' men, who currently sit three points ahead of their fifth-placed visitors, have been going from strength to strength lately and face one of their toughest tests of the season so far.

Hartpury go into this weekend's game on the back of a convincing 41-7 win at Canterbury last week and Jackson says they'll be looking to challenge for the top spot.

"We have a really young team, but a lot of the young players already have a great deal of experience especially those that have been playing at Gloucester as well," said goal-kicker Jackson.

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"It's good to also have that balance though from the older players like Darren Compton, Chris Fortey and Sean Marsden and we are all learning from them and growing as a group.

"We'd love to get the win this weekend and we're currently sat second and a win would really help us to fortify that position and give us a good footing to challenge Henley at the top of the table."

Worthing Raiders will go into the game high on confidence after defeating previously unbeaten, third-placed side Redruth 27-26 last week.

Hartpury are undefeated so far this term after winning five of their opening six fixtures and drawing the other with Launceston.

What has been impressive in their start to the season has been the fact that four of their opening six games have been away from home with tomorrow just their third match in front of their own fans.

As a result, Jackson says the Hartpury squad have done some good bonding recently after such long away trips to places like Bournemouth, Launceston and Canterbury.

"We know that Worthing will be riding high after their win last weekend but we'll just concentrate on playing our own game, doing what we do best and keep building on our strengths," added Jackson.

"We've had a lot of long bus journeys so far this season, down to Bournemouth, Launceston and Canterbury.

"It's given us all a chance to bond and get to know each other and that's showing both at training and on the pitch.

"Training has been going really smoothly, the Gloucester A boys have come back in and had a really good session.

"Everyone is looking really sharp and we'll definitely be putting out a strong team again looking to get the win."