Jake McMahon hasn’t been at Old Cryptians for too long, but he’s been there long enough to declare that their RFU Junior Vase semi-final against Reeds Weybridge on Saturday is “the biggest game in the club’s history”.

Old Cryptians have home advantage and the prize for the winners is a place in the final at Twickenham on Sunday 5th May, so the game certainly has plenty riding on it!

“It’s massive, we’re going all out to get to Twickenham,” said McMahon, who as well as being in his first season as head coach at the Gloucestershire One club is also a key player.

The 25-year-old, who joined from Gordon League in the summer, is a hooker and will have a huge role to play both on and off the pitch on Saturday.

It’s been a remarkable season for Old Cryptians and they are enjoying a great run of form that has seen them lose just one game since Christmas.

That was against Gloucestershire One champions Ross-on-Wye and they were ultimately pipped to the second promotion spot on the last day of the campaign by Cheltenham North, missing out by just one point even though they won 35-22 at Dursley.

That wasn’t the only disappointment that has befallen Old Cryptians, who are captained by Chad Crosby, over the past couple of weeks because they went to Coney Hill in the North Gloucestershire Combination Senior Cup – a club that play three divisions above them in South West One West – and drew 24-24, only to go out on tries scored.

“We still haven’t lost a game though,” said McMahon, “and it shows how far we have come, it’s been an excellent season. All our eggs are in one basket now but we’ll give it everything.”

Reeds Weybridge won’t be pushovers, however, having won Surrey One this season after winning all 18 of their games.

They booked their place in the last four with a 35-6 win at home to Hitchin but at least they won’t be too much of a surprise package when they turn up at the Memorial Ground because McMahon, who works as a community rugby coach during the day, has been to see them play.

“They’re a good young team,” McMahon admitted. “They like to run the ball and they’ve got some slick backs but we’re planning to give them a nice warm Gloucester welcome in the first 10 minutes and we’ll see how they go after that!”

Ask McMahon where Old Cryptians’ strengths lie and he answers “everywhere” before adding, “We’ve got some good old boys in the forwards, the lineout is efficient and we’ve got a good scrummage. And we’ve got some really talented backs, they’re awesome.”

And if the club do reach Twickenham for the first time in their 94-year history, McMahon, who helped out with a bit of forwards coaching when he was at Gordon League, sees that as just the start.

“We set out our stall at the start of the season,” said McMahon, “and the success we’ve had this season will stand us in good stead. We want to win promotion next season and in the next two or three years we want to be playing in Western Counties North.

“We want to be playing competitive rugby against the big town teams.”

And at the rate they are progressing, few would bet against them doing it.