Longlevens captain Jed Holman-Jones is looking forward to returning to action on Saturday after a weekend off.

The Counties 1 Western North high-fliers head to mid-table Clevedon looking to make it 10 wins from 11 in this season’s campaign.

They’ve picked up 44 points from their opening 10 games and trail leaders Cinderford 2nds only on points difference.

After this Saturday’s game, Longlevens, who won Gloucester Premier last season, will have reached the halfway point this time around and they are certainly continuing where they left off in 2021/22.

They’ve already beaten Cinderford 2nds – the return fixture at Cinderford is on Saturday 10^th December – and their only defeat was at Midsomer Norton last month.

“Yes, we’re not doing badly!” Holman-Jones said with some understatement.

Holman-Jones has been a fixture in the Longlevens side for more than a decade. Now 30, he has been captain for the past 11 years, his only break coming a couple of years ago when he was sidelined with a knee injury.

That was just before Covid and the ensuing lockdown was a tough time for everyone involved in rugby, of course, but post-Covid, Longlevens have flourished.

They won 20 of their 22 league games last season and Holman-Jones said: “Credit to all the guys, we’ve been building towards where we are now for 10 years.

“Our junior set-up is going from strength to strength. I’d say 35 to 40 of the lads who are playing adult rugby came through our juniors.”

Holman-Jones is one of those, having started playing for the club at the age of seven.

He made his 1^st XV debut in the second row as a 19-year-old but this season has played all across the back row and even at outside centre.

“I’ve been moving slowly backwards,” he laughed. “I don’t have a preference for where I play – 6, 7 or 8. As long as I’m playing I’m happy.”

Holman-Jones has plenty of experience to fall back on, of course, and he’s also a very experienced captain, so what sort of leader is he?

“I’m quite competitive, I like to push myself,” he said. “I like to win.”

And the wins have certainly been piling up.

“We’ve got a good coaching set-up,” said Holman-Jones. “Obviously we’ve got Andy Deacon, and Luke Stratford has come in as head coach. He puts in a lot and is getting the best out of the players.”

Longlevens are averaging more than 40 points a game this season and Holman-Jones continued: “We’ve got a strong pack. As long as we win enough ball we’ve got some good backs, we’re a well-rounded side.”