CORNISH All Blacks player/coach Ryan Westren wants his side to ‘establish ourselves’ in the South West Premier when the new season gets underway on Saturday at Exeter University (2pm).

The Polson Bridge club secured promotion in the most dramatic of circumstances in April, winning the South West One play-off against Old Centralians, despite trailing 19-0 at half-time against their Gloucestershire visitors.

Promotion capped an excellent first campaign for Westren and fellow joint head coach Ian Goldsmith, but the centre knows that the step-up will be significant.

He said: “Ultimately our aim this year is to establish our position in this league and then reassess for next year.

“We’re not putting any numbers on it, with where we’re at at the moment, we need to take every game as it comes and assess it week by week, and then if we need to change it we will.

“Teams will be that much more organised, fitter and physical, and every facet of the game gets that bit better. We know that we need to improve but we know what our strengths and weaknesses are so we’ve got to keep our weaknesses to a minimum and make sure our strengths shine through.”

The summer has been a good one, eight have either returned or joined with five in the forwards and three in the backs.

Props Rory Cinnamond and Rhys Carpenter will provide plenty of competition for last year’s front choice duo Rikki Bentham and Greg Thomas while Tom Bottoms, Chris Mcdonald and Gary Gynn will provide plenty of experience, physicality and knowhow, either in the second-row or back-row positions.

On the outside, Eddie McGinley has returned after three seasons away following his relocation to Plymouth and can line up on the wing or at full-back, while Alfie Lang (centre or full-back) and Louis Ogilvie (wing) will all be hoping to force their way into the team through impressive performances in training.

Of last year’s first team squad, only Andy Knight and Will Morton have departed.

Pre-season saw the All Blacks rack up over 50 points in an hour-long game at Cornwall/Devon League side Pirates Amateurs before putting in a superb defensive performance in going down 25-14 to National League Two (South) side Redruth on Friday, August 16.

They were scheduled to go to St Ives on Saturday, however their fellow Cornish outfit had to concede due to a lack of players, meaning that come Saturday, they won’t have played for 22 days.

Westren said: “It’s very frustrating and certainly not ideal, especially as a couple of squad members haven’t had any pre-season games, but it’s one of those things and sport is going that way a bit. You’ve also got to feel sorry for St Ives in that situation.

“It’s left us a bit short of match practice and we thought about doing some training on Saturday, but we needed a hit out against opposition. We’ve had a great pre-season and we feel as prepared as we can despite that.”

When asked how the lack of game time will affect them, Westren said: “It creates more of a selection headache. Certain people haven’t had that game time so we need to weigh up whether they’re going to play and it’s also about getting used to that game day preparation again on a Saturday. We started at midday against Pirates Amateurs and played Redruth on the Friday night so we’ve not gone through the process of a Saturday morning in the lead up for a game, which means that this weekend will be the first time we’ve done that for a while.

“In the grand scheme of things it’s not going to make that much of a difference, but it’d have been nice to get that out of the way.”

Despite all of that, he’s pleased with the players’ attitude in pre-season.

"The boys have done everything that we’ve asked, so we feel like we’re in a good place, but you never quite know until a few games into the season.

“We’ve been able to increase the depth of the squad in certain positions, which means the competition for places is higher as well as driving player attitudes.

“We’ve also worked very hard on our defence, as well as giving clarity on peoples roles which gives a bit more accountability.

“But the biggest thing we’ve done is to simplify a few things. It might sound a bit basic but we’ve made it very clear-cut so there’s no grey areas as to what we’re expecting.”

That will be put to the test on Saturday at the Topsham Sports Ground when they face Exeter University.

The two sides last met in the 2017/18 campaign when Exeter won promotion from South West One (West), and Westren admits their constant changing, coupled with the quality they possess, makes it difficult.

He said: “They’re unique to the league as their turnover of players is so high. They’ve got huge resources, access to great facilities, full-time coaching and a massive pool of players to choose from.

“Exeter University has got to the stage where they attract people for its rugby, not just academically, and with their links to the Exeter Chiefs, they’ve got young, fit guys who are looking to be picked up.

“They’ve probably got a squad of 80 who they could choose from so its a different challenge. But everything that seems a positive always has a weakness, so we’ve got to find that weakness and exploit it.”

With a bye at the end of the month, the All Blacks’ only home game of the month sees them entertain Devon side Exmouth next Saturday.

He said: “We haven’t got the easiest of starts, purely because in September we’ve got two away games and one at home, so automatically everyone looks at that home game as one you need to win.

“Sometimes the pressure away is less and we were better last year away.

“We go into every game looking to pick up points and the points you pick up on your travels are more crucial than at home in my opinion.

“Everyone tends to have a better home record, especially as you go up the leagues as the teams are that much better.”

With Okehampton, Ivybridge, Camborne, Brixham and Barnstaple also in the division, there should be plenty of stories throughout the season.

Westren said: “It’s great for us that seven or eight games are within an hour, so the fact that there’s that means you know the players in the other teams and it creates a buzz, especially as we’re all in the same sort of press area. it’s a good league to be back in and we’re looking forward to it and making sure we’re here to stay.”

The first chance to pick up five points arrives this weekend and Westren is likely to be able to call upon his new signings, but isn’t giving much away as to his team news.

He said: “We’ve got a few question marks at the moment, but hopefully we’ll be able to select from a fully fit squad.”