Old Priorians head to Amersham and Chiltern on Saturday afternoon, a 2pm kick off at Ash Grove in a top of the table fixture, with OPs knowing that a good win could potentially see them pull 9 points clear of tomorrow's hosts.

The task will be by no means straightforward, with Amersham having lost only three games all season, though two of these are fairly recent defeats to Belsize Park and Old Haberdashers ; history between the two sides may also dictate that they have the edge, though the most recent game between the teams ended with a famous 34-12 victory for OPRFC.

A number of changes have been made to the Twisters XV. There is no Ross McIntosh (who landed 19 points from the boot last week in the 29-27 win against London Cornish) but is more than ably replaced by Tomek Tsang, who has represented Hong Kong at age group international level and played in the early stages of this season.

Similarly, Cathal Sheehan and Alex Gribbon are back in the starting line-up for the first time since beating Belsize Park (26-10) in September. Both are young, talented players with an abundance of skill and pace, and many will hope we are treated to a trademark Gribbon break from the midfield, joining James Booth in the centres. Sheehan is at 8 and has a strong pack ahead of him.

Pierre Goualin moves into the scrum half berth, having filled that role against Grasshoppers last season with success, and may be able to put in another George Gregan-esque performance from the same position ; it'll certainly be interesting to see how he links up with Tsang as his fly half.

Vinnie Berrington offered this thoughts ahead of the game :

Is there any cause for concern given the last 15 minutes of the London Cornish match?

We dropped of our intensity and focus in the last 15 minutes and that made the score line seem worse than the performance. That’s not taking away from Cornish who are a very good side with lots of talent. But we should have seen the game out better - we just lacked a bit of game management but mainly our attitude in the final 15 minutes was poor.

There is a lot of previous with Amersham, how are things shaping up for the fixture?

The preparation has been really good, one of our best sessions this season on Wednesday. We are really looking forward to finishing off the block - it has been a very challenging 5 games against the top teams in the league so it’s important we finish strong, rest and get ready to go again.

OPs are on course for a record breaking season, what would you be happy with come the end of the campaign?

We are not aiming for any specific positions in the table, but we are ambitious. The main thing for us as a group is realising our potential, and we will be disappointed if we don’t play to our best every week.

Saying that - I have no doubts we could win the league if we had stronger availability each week. It is a challenge everyone faces at this level but particularly for us - we are one of the smaller clubs in the league and it’s our job as coaches to solve this issue.

Can you give us some insight into this week's selection?

We've got a young team out who are extremely talented. It is probably the most exciting side we could name. there’s a good mixture of youth and experience. We are really focused on bringing an intensity and energy we haven’t yet produced this year

This has been a very difficult run of games for Old Priorians and have been on the road for the past three gameweeks, their last home game having been against Aylesbury on October 15th. To come away from the current block of games and cap it with a win against a tough opposition should be considered more than satisfactory, and are on course for a record breaking season in terms of position and points at Level 6.

We should expect a physical but fast paced affair at Ash Grove on a big pitch, which could suit the expansive style of play from OPRFC, but so too for the equally dangerous Amersham backs. OPs have also levelled up the forwards battle in recent weeks and have become more competitive in the scrums - something they have historically had some difficulty with - and so could lead to a pitched battle for possession and territory.

Conditions look good for play on Saturday - an unseasonably warm afternoon is forecast with little to no chance of rainfall, much in keeping with the rest of the week so the pitch ought be in fairly good shape come kick off. A light north-westerly breeze is likely, but shouldn't affect play too much.

MATCH FACTS

- League Form : OPRFC - WLWWL / Amersham & Chiltern RFC - WWLLW
- The first meeting between the two sides since 21st December 2019, when Old Priorians won 34-12
- There are four survivors from that team in the matchday squad for the Twisters : Tomek Tsang, James Booth, Cian McBride and Chris East ; to add to this, there are nine survivors from the reverse in the same season - Ari Goualin, Will Clarke, Ben Ridley, David Howe, Damien O'Dwyer and Maynard Ahukanna are added to the above (excluding Booth)
- A bonus point win will see Amersham move into second place IF Old Priorians do not gain any losing points themselves
- David Howe will move ahead of Guy Djedje for the most league appearances this season (9)
- For the second week in a row, players sharing a surname will line up against each other in an OPs fixture - Kieran (Amersham) and James (OPRFC) Booth tomorrow, following Ben (London Cornish) and Tim (OPRFC) Boorman in last week's fixture
- Of the 18 person squad, 14 came through St Benedict's development, including the whole of the starting back line and the replacements bench
- There is a 34 year difference between the youngest and oldest OPRFC player in the XV