The big games keep coming for Smiths Rugby Club.

A week after ending Old Patesians’ unbeaten start to the season, the Counties 2 Gloucestershire North leaders will try to do the same to Old Richians on Saturday.

Richians will arrive at the Prince of Wales Stadium on the back of a 41-17 win at home to Stroud, their fifth win in six games.

They drew 17-17 at home to the Pats 10 days ago and they are currently in second place, four points behind Smiths, who have won all six.

Smiths’ most recent win – 39-35 at the Pats – came at a cost, however, because their back row and skipper Ben Hawker broke his hand.

“I did it making a tackle,” he said. “I need an operation, I’ll be out for six weeks.”

Experienced full-back Matt Dean is set to take over as captain as Smiths look to build on their hugely impressive start to the season.

They beat the Pats last season – albeit at home – so winning at Everest Road where they lost by just a point in January will not come as a total shock to those who follow rugby in the county.

“That’s something that we’re proud about, the building of our reputation,” said Hawker, who is in his 10^th season as captain. “We’ve put some respect on the Smiths name, it’s something we’ve worked very hard on in training.

“With the players in the group we’ve got, we want to keep on improving.

“We’re an ambitious group of players and we’re an ambitious club. We just want to have a decent name in rugby and give anyone a game.”

They’re certainly doing that and have been on a huge upward journey in recent times, winning titles, promotions and cups, after previously playing in Gloucestershire’s basement division for many years.

Last season they finished third in Counties 2 Gloucestershire North after winning the title in 2022/23. They missed out on promotion that year when they lost the play-off final to Clifton 2nds and Hawker said: “I think there was a bit of hangover after losing the play-off, this is a really strong league.”

Hawker is 33 now but his love for the game is as strong as ever.

“I’ve got no intention of stopping, there’s a lot more I want to achieve,” he said. “We want to get out of this division and progress up the league. And we really want to win the Combination Cup again, that means a lot to us.”

Smiths won the Cheltenham Combination Senior Cup for the first time in their 70 years-plus history in 2023 when they beat Cheltenham North 30-29 in a thrilling final, having won the Minor Shield and Junior Cup with many of the same players in the previous seasons.

“That was a nice way of tracking where we were,” added Hawker. “We’ve had a very committed group over the past five years or so and we’ve still got a nucleus of boys from our Gloucester 3 days.”

And while there’s still plenty Hawker wants to achieve in the short-term, he’s also got his eye on the longer term too.   

“We want to oversee the next generation, we want to keep it going," he said. "Some of us will drop into the United side. That’s massive for us, pushing our United side on.”

Their United side play in Counties 4 Gloucestershire and in years to come it’s hoped that Smiths will have a junior section that will feed into their adult sides.

“A youth set-up is in our future plan but we’re not going to do it until we’re properly ready for it,” said Hawker.

More immediately, Smiths will be ready for Old Richians at the weekend.

“We’re expecting a very tough game,” said Hawker. “In the past year or so they’ve always been a decent side.

“They might not always have got the results, but I’m not surprised to see them up near the top.

“They’ve got a couple of good coaches in Ben Slatter and Dan Knapman who played at a good level, they’ve toughened them up and made them a bit more street-smart.”  

Meanwhile, fourth-placed Pats travel to Gloucester Old Boys on Saturday while Cheltenham North, who are third, host Hucclecote.

The North have won all six of their games so far – five with a bonus-point – but a five-point deduction carried over from last season means they trail Smiths by six points.