Cheltenham Saracens have made a flying start to the new campaign and director of rugby Phil Watters is absolutely delighted.

The former Cheltenham full-back, who is now 52, is in his third season at the club and they head to Painswick on Saturday looking to make it six wins out of six in Counties 3 Gloucestershire North.

They are currently second in the 12-strong division, two points behind Tewkesbury who have also won five out of five but hold an advantage because they have picked up maximum bonus points.

Saracens’ most recent outing saw them win 45-7 at home to Minchinhampton and Watters told The Local Answer: “We’re in a good place, we’ve got good momentum.

“We’re still rebuilding, five or six of the players who played against Minchinhampton have transitioned from Colts rugby, we’re giving them some exposure in the first team.”

Saracens finished seventh last season, winning nine of their 20 games, so there has been a big upturn in their fortunes.

“We’re where we hoped to be, but we’re taking it week by week,” continued Watters. “We’re enjoying it but we’re not getting carried away.

“One of the challenges of local rugby is consistency. We’ve made nine or 10 changes for every game this season either because of injury or unavailability”

Watters said that 34 players were unavailable last weekend but he was very happy that the club still managed to field two sides.

The 2nd XV, who won the Cheltenham Combination Junior Cup in May, are playing in the Gloucester & District 2 Merit Table and Watters added: “That was something I pushed for, I know that may be a challenge but I like a challenge!”

Watters, who is assisted by forwards coach Josh Stevens and backs coach Buster Mazowiec, is very much hands-on when it comes to coaching.

He also works closely with Matt Dawson, a former Cheltenham team-mate, who heads up the Colts section.

“He’s a great guy,” said Watters. “The Colts are doing well, Matt is great with the kids.”

And those kids are really pushing for places in the 1st XV, although Watters is determined that it is a managed process.

“I appointed Adrian Clarke as youth transition manager,” he explained.

“We want to expose them to senior rugby but we need to help them too, we don’t want to break them which is why we’re putting structures in place.”

It wasn’t that long ago that Saracens were struggling to get one senior team out, let alone two, and, while winning obviously helps, they are clearly playing with smiles on their faces.

“I want them to play open rugby,” said Watters. “I want them to play what they see in front of them

“I don’t want to put restrictions on them because they’re talented players.

“We’ve got a couple of older heads in the forwards but really we’re an under-25 side.”

Two of the younger players who have been making a big impression are half-backs Fred Griffin and Keane Mazowiec.

“They came through the club’s age group teams, Keane is an exceptional goal kicker,” said Watters.

Watters was impressed with the players’ reaction after going behind to an early try on Saturday.

“We’re up against some big old boys in this league,” said Watters. “Playing the likes of Minchinhampton, Matson, Spartans isn’t easy, we showed plenty of resilience.

“Although we want to play open rugby, we have to have structures in place too.”

Their supporters will be hoping Saracens avoid any early scares against a Painswick team who are propping up the table after losing their first five games.

Saracens will clearly go into the game as favourites but Watters cautioned: “Every game is a banana skin in this division.”

A good number of Saracens' supporters – the likes of Eddie Walsh, Paul Unsworth, Tony Pates, Lachlan Sharples, Gary Short, Terry Beaver and Stan Hailwood - will be walking to Painswick to watch Saturday’s game.

“Collectively they are known as the SHARTs -  Sarries Hiking and Rugby Tourists,” explained club chairman Joe White. “They have hiked in mountains all over Europe.”

Tewkesbury, meanwhile, host fifth-placed Spartans on Saturday before travelling to Saracens a week later.