Hertfordshire will open their 2018 County Championship campaign for the Bill Beaumont Cup with four players from Tring. The home match against Kent at Cheshunt is on Saturday, May 5th at 3.00pm

This will be a new experience for Hertfordshire as they will be playing on an artificial surface for the first time at senior level, though some players will have experienced similar pitches at Allianz Park and other venues.

The other matches in Hertfordshire’s pool will be against Gloucestershire at Lydney on May 12th and against Cornwall at Bishop’s Stortford on May 19th.

Hertfordshire has a new head coach, Michael Owen, former Wales and British Lions captain and now master in charge of rugby at Haileybury College. He is looking forward optimistically to the Championship saying “it will be a short, sharp campaign which we will all enjoy”

Hertfordshire has provisionally selected a team with a good blend of experience and new comers, captained by scrum half Tom Banks.