Layton Batiste’s Vikings side begin their maiden season in Counties One Hampshire with a trip to New Milton on Saturday.

Stepping up to level 7 has been a long-term aim for the club, which was achieved under Ray Smart’s stewardship last season by securing promotion. But they now enter a new dawn led by one of Guernsey Raiders greats.

A strong pre-season camp saw the Vikings secure two victories over Jersey Seconds and Beccehamian Rugby Club, with the latter narrowly missing out on promotion to Regional Two level last season. Batiste’s side can take confidence from those performances into the new season.

As has been the theme of the last two seasons, St Jacques are largely entering an unknown in terms of what threat the new opposition will pose, but Batiste is not too concerned.

“After the win against Beccehamian’s at the weekend, who play at the same level as us over in Kent, I think there were a lot of positives, and we look like we are in a good place to start the season.”

“We are not going to worry about the opposition, we are focusing on what we are doing. If we can build on last week’s performance and fix a few small areas we have worked on in training, I am confident we can get a positive result.” said Batiste.

Whilst the Vikings were in Counties Two last season, New Milton had a mixed season in Counties One, finishing 11th but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

In nearly half of their matches they lost by only a narrow margin, and look some of the top sides very close. They are an experienced outfit at this level, and it will likely not be an easy opening fixture for the Vikings.

A current Rugby Academy Colt will make his competitive debut for the Vikings this weekend. Adam Giles has impressed in both pre-season matches, he is versatile and can play in several positions in the back-line, but this week starts at scrum-half.

New captain Tom Veillard gets the opportunity to lead the side for the first time in a league fixture. He played in the win over Jersey Seconds but missed last week as he was guiding Cobo Cricket Club to the CI League title. For the rest of the season his focus is back on rugby, and he will steer the Vikings ship from flyhalf.

The Vikings forwards were largely dominant last season, and Batiste has been able to call on an experienced pack for the opener this weekend.

Callum Murdoch makes his first start in a long time, having come out of retirement this season. He packs down in the front-row alongside Phil Le Noury and Tom Bray.

The Vikings two most capped players, Mitchell & Jacob Smith continue as ever in the side, this week pairing in the second-row. Tom Creed is unavailable for the first match, but he will likely be available next week.

Dan De Kock, Chris Croft & Angus MacCallum team up in the back-row to complete a forwards unit packed with size & power.

Two players with plenty of experience in the backs are ready to start the season after completing in the Granite Weekender sprint triathlon last weekend. Taylor Quate & Joe Le Roux traded rugby boots for trainers & wetsuits, but their focus is back on the rugby pitch. They will both combine to form the centre partnership on Saturday.

Out wide Sam Ferry makes his league return, he missed most of last season following several surgeries to fix a longstanding issue. He is joined by Kieran Creber and Matt Lomas-Lloyd in the back field.

Cameron Le Prevost starts amongst the replacements this week, but when he enters the fray he will secure his 50th appearance for the Vikings. After missing nearly a whole year due a knee injury, everyone at the club couldn’t be more pleased to see him reach this accolade.

This first game will be a guide for what’s to come for St Jacques, but after back-to-back promotions everyone is excited to test themselves at the highest ever level for the club.