Scarborough RUFC coach Matty Jones happy to tackle derby-day opener at Driffield

Former captain Jones has had to bide his time for the opportunity to finally lead his team as coach in a competitive environment due to the Covid-19 pandemic wrecking the league seasons, but he’s looking forward to the challenge at Kelleythorpe this weekend.

He said: “It’s nice to play against a rival club and one that we have a lot of experience with.

“We’ve played them a lot over the past couple of years, but it’s going to be a really difficult game.”

Jones’ side will be a mixture of debutant and experienced players as they look to kick-start the season in the perfect manner, and the head coach is keen to see how his players will get on.

YDO Charlie Cartwright, his brother Harvey, who both played for Pocklington RUFC in the past, and Aaron Thomson, are set to make their debuts for the club on Saturday.

“We’re really lucky that the lads who have come in have played at higher levels, and with the younger lads, we will have to look at building their confidence up.

“I’m sure that they will know that all the hard work has been worth it and that they have been rewarded with the opportunity to start the game.”

The preparation towards this weekend’s season opener hasn’t been ideal for the Silver Royd side, but Jones is hoping that his players will put in a strong performance.

“Having missed out on our second pre-season game was really unlucky, and we will be coming into the Driffield clash off the back of the Goole game and the 10s tournament.

“There will be a few lads that might be lacking a bit of match fitness, so we will be looking to build the guys up and let them perform.

“We’ll assess things in a couple of weeks, but we are wanting to start on a positive and that will come from a good performance.”