TWO teams with maximum points from their opening two National Two South matches meet on Saturday as Taunton Titans welcome Barnstaple to Hyde Park (3pm).

Both sides have picked up a pair of bonus-point victories to get their respective seasons off to a flyer, with Taunton following up their opening day success against Broadstreet with an away win at Old Redcliffians on Saturday.

The Titans are in for a stern test this weekend against a side who look to have improved greatly upon last season, when they finished third bottom.

Barnstaple survived due to a combination of gaining more points than the identically-placed side in National Two North and London Welsh going into administration, which meant the league numbers had to be rebalanced.

The North Devon outfit have certainly made the most of their reprieve and picked up an impressive 29-24 victory at home to Redruth last weekend.

Taunton, meanwhile, have run in 14 tries across their opening two games and been boosted by impressive performances from a range of new players, while the regulars continue to shine.

Ahead of the match, head coach Tony Yapp said: “To win our first home game was great, but to go away from home to a team like Old Reds who have not lost in over a year at home and win is even better.

“It was as rounded a performance as I’ve seen from a Titans side over the last few seasons, and to come in only our second game and away from home is a credit to all the hard work everyone has put in over pre-season.

“Despite only scoring two tries in the first half, I felt we were always in control and laid the foundations to go on and win the game in the second half, which proved to be the case.

“As always there will be lots of little things to work on during the week to make sure we get the best performance out of the players that we can on Saturday. 

“With so many players putting their hand up and performing well over the last couple of games, the biggest headache at the moment is who to pick, which of course is a great headache to have.

“Barnstaple have also started very well with two wins out of two, most recently beating a strong Redruth side. 

“Having struggled last season against Barnstaple over the two games, this certainly isn’t a game we’ll be taking lightly, so if you are free on Saturday get yourself down to Hyde Park and make the difference in what promises to be a cracking game.”

Taunton will be without Aaron Wilman who, after making his Titans debut last weekend, flew to the Caribbean with his 40 Commando unit to help deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.