New season, new start for Newent Rugby Club.

Former Gloucester and Harlequins prop Dan Murphy has taken over as head coach and will have a huge role to play if the club are to realise their dream of winning promotion to South West Premier.

There have been other changes at the South West One West club with Kerry Phelps taking on the role of director of rugby and Peter Kingston being appointed as the backs coach. Lee Roberts is the assistant coach.

Phelps was the club’s fitness and conditioning coach last season as well as helping out in a team manager role while five-times capped former England scrum-half Peter Kingston – one of the best known names in rugby around Gloucestershire – helped out when needed in 2017/18.

Kingston will be involved a lot more this season and 1st XV captain Ross Webb said: “He’s a good character to have around the place, he’s got loads of experience.”

Back row Webb, who will skipper the side for a fifth successive season, will also take on the role of strength and conditioning coach.

“It freshens things up a bit,” said Webb. “We were disappointed with last season.”

It shows just how far the club have come in recent seasons when you consider that they still finished fourth in South West One West, winning 17 and drawing one of their 26 games including that opening day success at ultimate champions and perennial rivals Drybrook.

“I think we beat every team in the division apart from Exeter University,” added Webb, “but we had problems with availabilities.

“We used getting on for 40 players and we went to Keynsham with a 2nd XV front row. It’s amazing that the club can do that but it’s not going to win you the league.”

Winning the league – or at the very least promotion – is definitely the aim this season.

“We want to win every game, there is no other way of looking at it,” added Webb.

“We know if we go up it will be a struggle. It will be hard but we know we can beat every team in our division on our day. We just need to be more consistent.”

One of the teams they will be tackling this season of course are near neighbours Lydney following their relegation from South West Premier.

“Who’d have thought it?” said Webb. “Fifteen years ago Newent didn’t have a team and Lydney were riding high in the national leagues.

“Mind you, we’ve just got rid of Drybrook and Matson and now we’ve got Lydney and Coney Hill!”

Those local derbies will be great for the supporters, of course, and Webb, who has just turned 33, is hoping that he will be playing in those types of high-profile game for a while yet even though he has taken on his new role at the club this season.

“I’ve always been interested in strength and conditioning,” he said. “I’d like to go into coaching when I finish playing.

“Ideally that would be at Newent but because of my close relationship with these players I might have to go away to come back.”

Newent’s fans needn’t worry that that will happen any time soon though.

“I’ve still got a couple of seasons left in me,” he added. “I still want to contribute on the field as much as I can.”