PREVIEW – Havant Dolphins (H)
The 2025/26 home league schedule kicks off on Saturday with a bumper day of rugby at Water Lane – the highlight being the visit of Havant Dolphins in Regional 2 South Central. It really is the only SO v PO sporting fixture that matters this weekend!
MATCH: Tottonians v Havant Dolphins
VENUE: Water Lane, Totton, SO40 3ZX
COMPETITION: Regional Division 2 South Central
DATE: Saturday 13th September 2025
KICK-OFF: 3:00pm
ADMISSION: FREE (as always!)
LIVE MATCH UPDATES: On our Twitter/X channel @Tottonians
OVERVIEW:
Three games of rugby and a sold out lunch, where else would you want to be this Saturday afternoon as Tottonians look to bounce back from the disappointment of last weekend’s defeat at Petersfield by welcoming Counties 1 Hampshire winners Havant Dolphins to Water Lane.
The Hooks Lane side will become the first ‘Second XV’ that we will ever have faced in 1st XV league competition and they bring with them a proud record of being unbeaten in their last 24 league games since going down 41-19 to promoted Andover in March 2024.
They kicked off their season, a first in the Regional Leagues, with a 37-15 win over fellow promotees Ellingham and Ringwood on their home AGP surface, securing a bonus point to see them part of the five team gathering with maximum points from their opening game.
As for Tottonians, they will come into this game with two very productive training sessions under the belts after slipping narrowly at Penns Place last Saturday and there has been considerable amounts of soul searching from players and coaches alike but, with a large home support to cheer them on, they will come into this game with plenty of encouragement.
Kick-off is at 3.00pm and entrance is FREE as always – but don’t forget that the 2nd XV are playing Havant Barracudas (4th XV) at 1pm and the 3rd XV take on Trojans 2nd XV at 3pm on the second pitch – so it will definitely be worth coming early.
TEAM NEWS:
The coaches have reacted strongly to the defeat last weekent and have made a number of alterations to the 18-strong squad that will do battle.
George Hixon has been switched to full-back to allow Jamie Laing a start at full-back while Dylan Kirk returns on the wing for a very familiar looking back line.
In the pack, there is a first start in the 1st XV since April 2024 for Archie Baker who replaces the unavailable Tom Gregory while Dan Williams makes his first start in the 1s since the opening game of the 2023/24 season at Guildford.
There is also a debut in the back row for new signing Will Ingram, who comes in for vice-captain Cam Flint, who suffered a torn calf in last week’s game. The ever reliable Scott Rogers and Jonny Lovell take places on the bench alongside the returning Ethan Riley.
HISTORY and STATS:
Havant Dolphins will be the 99th team that Tottonians has met in league action and, as mentioned, the first designated Second XV in that time.
It will be the first time since 6 April 2019 that Tottonians 1st XV have played a team from Hooks Lane when their 1st XV came to Water Lane and took home a 25-18 victory to go with their 32-22 home win pre-Christmas.
We have two wins over Havant previously, both at Water Lane. The first was in April 2016 when we prevailed 28-21 and then ten months later, it was a close call but Tottonians held out for a 34-29 victory.
