ROYAL Wootton Bassett have been forced into making a number of changes ahead of their season finale with Thatcham tomorrow.

Due to the poor weather around Christmas and the New Year Bassett were forced to reschedule their original visit to Thatcham back in February and unfortunately many of the first team had already made commitments for this Saturday on the assumption the season would be over by that point.

Head coach Alan Low was worried he might even have to come out of retirement to play, such was the shortage of numbers, but he has been able to get a XV out out that he thinks will be able to compete with third-placed Thatcham.

“We’ve got a side out it’s not looking too bad, to be honest, it’s a side that’s still capable of going up there and putting on a good show,” said Low.

“We are light, we still have the injuries from last Saturday and we’re waiting on one or two to see how they come through the week.”

“I think we still have a good side, there will be a couple of players out of position, but they good enough rugby players to do that. Tucker Blinkhorn will be coming out of centre into second row. It’s not a position he’s familiar with but he did play there recently and he’s a good player with his hands and will give us something different in the forwards. It should be an interesting.”

Recently Low has been giving opportunities to some of the colts who have impressed, with Josh Lewanituva in particular standing out. Asked whether tomorrow’s fixture would be another chance for the youngsters to show what they can do Low said that he felt he’d seen enough from this year’s crop but that it will be something he’s looking do more next season.

“We will look at more of them (the colts) next year , the ones who we thought could step up this year we’ve had a look at already. It’s a shame that the one lad Joe Bryant who we thought could really do well dislocated his shoulder when he came on.”

Last time out against Thatcham Bassett lost out 27-19 at Ballard’s Ash. In that game Low thought his side were unlucky to lose and is looking forward to seeing what he considers to be two good rugby sides going head to head again, this time with his own style further engrained.

“It was a day where we played reasonably well and lost only just. They’re one of those sides that push the ball around a bit, it will be interesting to see how both sides go on a firm track. If we can get the performance right we can upset the apple cart a little bit.”