All eyes in London 2 North East will be on Humber Doucy Lane this weekend as top of the table Stowmarket visit us with the Ipswich 1st XV sitting second in the table. Both teams have won their first 4 league matches with only the odd bonus point separating the teams at this stage. On what is expected to be a good track and good conditions for rugby, a battle royale is expected.

A big crowd for the game is expected, so get up early to enjoy the atmosphere and secure a good vantage point! Kick off at 3pm and bar open from midday.

Our Magpies are also looking to defend their unbeaten start to the season when they travel to Brightlingsea. The Magpies also sit second in their league after drawing last week against Mistley and will be looking to get back to winning ways on the road.

The Mighty 3rd XV also will be providing action at home for spectators, with a slightly earlier kick off of 2.30pm as they host visitors from Maldon and searching for a third consecutive league win. The scheduled Tankards 4th XV game has been postponed into February.

It is another busy Sunday both home and away with our minis travelling to Bury for fixtures, and the U12s taking to the road for a fixture at Diss and our U16s and U18s at Hadleigh and Woodbridge. At home the scheduled U13 & U14 games v Hadleigh have been cancelled, but the focus will be on women and girls rugby with the Athenas hosting U13, U15 and U18 games ahead of the Scorpions game against Sudbury's women in the afternoon (KO 2.30pm).

Good luck to all teams in black and gold at the weekend!

ps - just a note re COVID which we all know is running rife around Ipswich at present, and is affecting squads. Please do not attend the club for training, matches, or spectating if you have any COVID symptoms or have tested positive (or are awaiting a test), and please do adhere to good sanitisation standards in order to protect yourself, your team mates and your club members. It is frustrating to see training numbers depleted and games being cancelled as a result of lack of numbers, but we must all do our bit to look after each other and get through this!