Kent begin the defence of their County Championship crown this Saturday as they host Hampshire at Broad Walk, home of Charlton Park RFC.
Tom Stradwick (head coach) and Taff Gwilliam (director of rugby) have once again assembled a strong squad from Kent’s top sides who will not only look to retain the title, but make it a hat-trick of victories in the top tier of England’s oldest domestic rugby union competition.
With just three counties in each of the two Division One pools, the competition is almost knock-out from the start, with Kent facing the toughest of all tasks in a trip to the Recreation Ground in Redruth to take on Cornwall on 24th May.
Kent have succeeded against the pool favourites in the last two campaigns, including a 34-31 win at Camborne in front of over two thousand vociferous Cornishmen and women on their way to their first county title in 96 years, when they beat Lancashire at the 2023 final.
Before that, however, come Hampshire, who have also proved difficult opponents in recent years.
Although Kent have won all three of their meetings since Covid, two points or fewer have separated the counties on the two occasions at Havant, while at Medway two seasons ago, the hosts had to recover from a 15-3 deficit on 50 minutes, before scoring 17 unanswered points to claim a 20-15 win.
The Kent squad for Saturday is composed of players from the county’s five National league sides, with Stradwick leading a strong contingent from Blackheath, including Ben Charnock and George Daly.
Kick off at Broad Walk on Saturday is at 3.00 pm, and admission is free (car parking £5).
The final will be played at Allianz Stadium Twickenham on 21st June.
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