AFTER a weekend off from league rugby Taunton Titans are back in action again this weekend when they host London Irish Wild Geese at Hyde Park, writes Keith Brooking

The Wild Geese are the amateur side of London Irish and will be hoping to capitalise on the Titans’ current run of form and generosity, and pick up some points, just like the other teams scrapping for survival whom the Titans have struggled against recently.

At present London Irish WG are third from bottom on points difference, with Barnes and Exmouth below then. 

Above them are Barnstaple, just two points ahead, and Worthing by four points. 

With both of these teams at home this weekend the Wild Geese will be desperate for points, so will use their free-flowing attacking game that has led to 11 try bonus points this season, as well as five losing bonuses. 

The Titans, therefore, will need to improve if they don’t want to rely on another last-minute Gary Kingdom penalty.

In the fixture earlier in the season the Titans won 49-24, scoring seven tries. 

Dan Frost got two, Stu Persey scored a rare try, as did Alex Spurdle, while Conor Harbison claimed his first try for the Titans, and Ratu Vakalutukali and Freddie Fraser also added tries. 

The Titans didn’t have it all their own way in the fixture, with the Wild Geese running in four tries from their lively backs.

Taunton are still missing a few players due to injuries and unavailability, which will give some of the fringe players more of a chance to stake their claim for a shirt for the rest of the season and next. 

With the intensity in training beginning to be upped by the coaches to see who actually wants to play, it could be an interesting six weeks until the end of the season.