The wins have come courtesy of Blaydon RFC (home, 35 – 7) and Cinderford RFC, (away, 9 – 16). The games lost are Fylde RFC (away, 30 – 28), Coventry RFC (home, 12 – 48), Esher RFC (away, 30 – 16) and last weekend at home to Henley Hawks RFC (21 – 24).

In the games played between the two clubs in the league last season, DMPRFC managed to beat Loughborough Students RFC on both occasions, the first in early December 2014 at the Arena (29 – 17) and the return at Ashby Road in April this year (21 - 28).

Always competitive and willing to throw the ball about, Loughborough Students will be a tough test in what will be DMPRFC’s first home game since the second week in September, due to the visit of the New Zealand ‘All Blacks’ and their use of the Arena pitch and facilities.

Having said that, the All Blacks ‘Open Event’ on Thursday was a fantastic success and will long be remembered.

The ‘All Black’ players in attendance were a credit to the sport and fine ambassadors for their country. The hundreds of children in attendance represented their schools impeccably and very few people can say that they trained with the ‘All Blacks’.

Many thanks go to all DMPRFC staff that were involved in making the occasion happen and all who helped on the day.

It was a massive coup for DMPRFC and the Northern Echo Arena to be chosen as a training venue for one of the teams in Rugby World Cup 2015.

Then to subsequently find out it was the World Champion New Zealand ‘All Blacks’ who were the visitors was superb.

The All Blacks ‘Open Event’, where 60 schools participated, was the ‘icing on the cake’ to a fantastic week.

Many thanks also for the partnership with Rockcliffe Hall Hotel and Middlesbrough FC’s training facilities, which were all instrumental in achieving the visit of the reigning World Champions to Darlington and the North East in general.

As we all know, the Rockcliffe Hall Hotel is a superb venue and Middlesbrough FC’s training facilities adjacent to the hotel are second to none.

Chairman of Middlesbrough FC Steve Gibson is passionate about his club and he can be very proud of his achievements at Rockcliffe Hall and the training ground.

Due to those events, it necessitated that DMPRFC 1ST XV were required not to play on the Arena pitch after the Henley Hawks RFC visit, which is unusual, but it is the current glut of key injuries that are taking their toll, as coaches Danny BROWN and John NEWTON have been unable to field a settled side.

The sight of full back Tom KILL being stretchered off on Saturday with what may be long term knee ligament damage, has only exacerbated the current problem.

As a result of that, DMPRFC have prevailed in only one game at Cinderford RFC (24 – 37) on the first Saturday of the season .

The last 5 games unfortunately have been losses (but which include away games against top of the league opposition in Ampthill & District, Rosslyn Park and Blackheath), with the most recent loss being Wharfedale RFC last weekend, where DMPRFC again let the first half determine the result (24 – 0).

But again DMPRFC were right in it (31 – 21) until late on, when pressing for a bonus point or better, a 90-yard converted try against the run of play and an easily converted penalty try did the damage at the end.

Two tries from DMPRFC replacement hooker Simon UZOKWE at the weekend took his try tally to six in 6 games and sees him in joint top spot in National League 1’s top try scorers, which deserves credit.

Replacement centre Ben FRANKLAND was the other try scorer in the game and the other points came from three conversions by fly half Garry LAW.

Parity in the first half needs to be a priority for future games, as large deficits before ‘oranges’ in this league, inevitably signals a mountain climb after ‘oranges’, which more often than not ends up being insurmountable.

A return to the Arena is a great fillip for the squad and the encouragement of the Mowden Family , who have had to be very patient over recent weeks, will be a welcome homecoming.