The Bournemouth pre-season preparations have already been hampered with injuries forcing numerous players to miss the Redingensians Rams’ tournament on Saturday.
The Fortitudo backed Lions’ tried and trusted second row pairing of Ben Roberts and Harry Leadbeater are unavailable along with front rowers Gianluca Firettto and Alan Manning.
But rather then be down in the dumps about it - Director Of Rugby Will Croker says it merely gives other players the chance to step up to the mark.
He said: “We are taking a strong squad but there are a few perceived absentees and unavailabilities so we’re not going to have Ben Roberts or Harry Leadbeater from our second row partnership last year.
“We’ve also lost Gianluca Firetto and Alan Manning to injuries both sustained in the Bournville game and we’re hopeful they’ll be back in a few weeks but we’re not too sure what is happening there, so that has been a real blow for us.
“We’re also without Alex Everett-Bolter who has picked up a hamstring strain and Danny Kirkpatrick who has a knee injury so it’s a good chance for us to see some other people.”
The original tournament line up was set to include Westcliff and Esher, but they have been forced to withdraw leaving it a four-strong team event.
The Lions will now take on hosts Redingensians Rams, who will be dangerous on home turf, as well as fellow National One side Chinnor.
Rounding off the tournament alongside Bournemouth will be traditional Welsh Premiership powerhouses Pontypridd, and Croker says it will greatly benefit his squad’s preparations.
He added: “We’re going to be playing Pontypridd, the Welsh Premiership team, who are a very famous side and are very strong traditionally and looking at their results from last year, they’re going to be a real test.
“We’re going to be playing the Rams, who were promoted from National Two as runaway champions and are going to be playing in National One for the first time and have obviously had to go out and try and resource hard over the summer.
“So it is going to be interesting to see how they come back at us in terms of continuity and the final team is Chinnor who are well established in National One - so on paper we’re the perceived whipping boys.”
