Bournemouth Director Of Rugby Will Croker admits he already has one eye on the future ahead of the South West Premier visit of tenth placed Cleve on Saturday.

Croker and fellow coach Jon Sanchez have been on a scouting mission recently to begin preparations for a possible promotion - should they continue the blistering form they have opened the season with.

The Lions have blasted into the new campaign with a perfect six wins out of six, and Croker says they must not let their standards slip now.

Croker said: “Jon Sanchez and I went to watch Guernsey against Redingensians Rams last week in National Two South - when we had a break in the fixtures - with a view to preparing the side now for not just continuing our push for promotion but to try and elevate us further.

“So we are starting to get prepared - should we gain the promotion that we are after.

“This is incredibly exciting and it means we can now challenge the players not just at this level but start to think about what is to come.”

One of those players who has been challenged recently is exciting centre Carlos Snell, who has stood up well to suddenly being thrust into the limelight.

Croker says he has been solid in the midfield, and the Director Of Rugby added the entire team must make a strong case for the defence if they are to continue their promotion push.

Croker added: “It is a huge well done to Carlos Snell who came into the side a few weeks ago and was thrown in at the deep end after we suffered some injuries.

“He has really taken his chance well and it is really lovely to see him getting a run of games because he is a young player who is going to have a huge future at the rugby club.

“The Cleve result against Old Pats recently (104-12 away win) showed they are free scoring.

“We have to make sure our defence is as accurate as it has been over the last few weeks and make sure our work rate is up to the standards we believe we have now set for ourselves.”