Southend v Canterbury

Canterbury rugby head coach Danny Vaughan will be relieved that he has an extra 24 hours to prepare his side for the visit to high-flying Southend this weekend.

A Sunday kick-off, at 3pm, gives Vaughan's injured troops more recovery time as both Rob Keir (dead leg) and Matt Pinnick (finger) struggle for fitness.

The squad is already without prop Dave Weston, who has work commitments, and flanker Tim Aistrope, nursing a foot injury.

With hooker Matt Ford suffering from a heavy cold the city club's pack may be reshuffled against one of the most physically big sides in National League 3 South.

James Reilly, who has been on the sidelines for the past two weeks because of restrictions on the number of overseas players, returns to the squad.

Canterbury will draw confidence from their 19-17 win at Hertford at the weekend, where they scored three good quality tries despite a less than fluent performance.

An over-anxious start and problems at the lineout combined to keep Canterbury's attacking potential in check.

They were seven points adrift before No 8 Rowan O'Gorman's 35-metre dash to the line, but in the closing stages of the first half added tries for hooker Matt Ford, and Gert De Kock, finishing an excellent passing move.

With Wessel Wolmarans kicking his second conversion Canterbury seemed well set, but the second half never lived up to its promise, although Canterbury's expertise at turning over ball, with O'Gorman, Tim Aistrope and Dave Weston often in on the act, stood them in good stead.

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