RUGBY: Worthing captain James Arthur's weekly column (April 29)

AS we draw to the end of the season, we made our penultimate long trip across to Southend.

Will Smith started for the absent Joe Launchbury and George Ryle made his first team debut in the centres for Paul Dunkley.

The week started by preparing for next season and some might say badly.

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On Tuesday night, a team from Portsmouth University came to training to take body fat measurements in preparation for the start of pre-season.

There are maybe a few nerves from some of the boys in anticipation of the results. We also had medical assessments from the physio team and one-on-ones with the coaching staff.

We played Southend at home in the first game of the season, where we came away with a hard-fought 25-20 win, with the winning try coming in the final play of the game '“ starting a pattern that has stuck with us this season.

Since then, Southend have been a consistent side, who with this win over us overtook Clifton for fourth place. We knew it was going to be a tough game. They have a large side that is direct and well-drilled.

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With the half time score at 14-6, we were just being outplayed. The little things that had gone for us in the last few weeks just weren't happening.

We weren't looking after the ball, with loose carries and knock-ons from the offloads.

The final score reflected the game well with Southend coming away with a 38'“14 victory, which ended our five-game winning streak.

On the positive side, the boys stuck together and never gave up in what was a difficult game. And, as a result, had the last word in the game scoring a try from a driving maul, following that earlier trend I mentioned.

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The rest of the league performed as expected with wins for the top teams. Rosslyn Park had a convincing 36'“0 victory over Clifton, who are our final opponents in the last game of the season on Saturday.

Barnes beat Bridgwater 56'“24 in the battle of the two relegated teams.

So, this week we make the long drive to Bristol to face Clifton. It will no doubt be a hard-fought game to conclude what has been a tough and demanding season and we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible.

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