ROYAL Wootton Bassett’s pre-season ‘caveman’ sessions sound far from glamourous but have been boosted by the presence of Premiership star quality in the shape of Tom Dunn.

The former Trowbridge junior has been keeping himself in shape at the Ballards Ash club’s pre-season workout.

Head coach Alan Low’s workouts involve some pretty primal exercises, such as tyre flipping, sandbag shuttles and steep bank scrambling.

For the past five weeks Low has been drilling his side on pure fitness in preparation for the new season and next week the players will get a feel for the ball.

Low is really pleased with how the fitness work has been going and thinks that his players being able to measure themselves against a professional athlete like Dunn is an impressive yardstick.

“This week is the last week of caveman training, the boys have been going for five weeks,” said Low.

“We’ve had a lad from Bath, Tom Dunn, coming down.

“He came down initially for one session, really enjoyed it and carried on.

“It’s great for the boys to pitch themselves against a current Premiership player.

“When you’ve got someone like that saying how hard it is shows the level the guys are working at.

“All that physical preparation has gone really well, rugby prep starts next week and the guys are chomping at the bit, they want to get at it now.”

Bassett start their pre-season friendly programme with a trip to Chippenham on August 15, then a home fixture with Coney Hill on August 30.

Low is also hoping to get in a friendly on August 21 and looking into the possibility of arranging for a club to play against all three Bassett sides on September 6.

The club are still looking for players for their third senior team. The third team have been entered Dorset & Wilts Three North and the team will combine colt graduates as well a large number of second team players.

Anyone interested should contact rugby manager Steve Milner on 07919 410755.