A new era began for HRFC on Saturday with the first fixture under new DoR George Chuter, a visit to Cinderford of National 2 South in the Forest of Dean.

Hinckley took 22 players south including a number of newcomers (details below) whilst the hosts swapped the majority of their squad at half time.

Without a number of regular forwards including Luke Coltman, Ewan Bartlett, David Peck, Ben Marshall, Ben Avent and Alex Salt the pack were up against it, in a part of the world known for forward power but the young group did well, giving the backs the opportunity to play with a good amount of ball.

The half time score was 14 – 5 to the visitors, with the Hinckley score from debutant James Martin, who impressed in his first game at 1st XV level. The second half saw the hosts run away with it, winning by 40 – 5.

As well as the previously announced additions of Turner, Clarke and Farthing, there are a number of other new additions. Back row Jamie Skerritt has joined from Syston and had his first run out on Saturday, whilst Zac Cooper also debuted in the back row. Conor Buillivant, who played a number of games last season on loan from Nottingham has also now joined, whilst former club captain Ben Ashfield made his first appearance in a Hinckley shirt in Cinderford since 2014, after a period coaching Market Bosworth.

The game also saw two young front rowers Dom Ames and James Squires get their longest runs in 1st XV jersey’s, with the attention now turning to the visit of Tonbridge Juddians to Leicester Road on Saturday with a 2.30pm kick off.

Also a new addition this season is all of the HRFC 1st team tries will be made available on the club website a few days after the game, please check back regularly to keep up to speed with how the team is getting on.

Hinckley XV Vs Cinderford: Josh Smith, James Marton, Mitch Culpin, Joe Wilson, Callum Dacey; Callum Rowe, Joe Glover; Steve Harvey, Dom Ames, Neale Farthing, Mark Deaville, Piotr Wisniewski Matt Fearn ©, Jamie Skerritt, Gareth Turner. Reps: James Squires, Ben Ashfield, Michael Parker, Zac Cooper, Dylan Weddle, Mitch Lamb, Conor Buillivant