CHINNOR will end a 14-month wait without a game when they take on Esher this Saturday.

The Thame-based club welcome the National League 2 South outfit to Kingsey Road for a friendly played under the Rugby Football Union (RFU)’s adapted laws.

It will be their first match since March 2020 and will be followed by a return fixture in Surrey seven days later.

Chinnor had already scheduled friendlies against National League 1 rivals Rams for the final two Saturdays in May.

Director of rugby Richard Thorpe said: “These fixtures allow our new coaching team to get their eyes on our players in a match environment for the first time.

“This will enable them to refine and sharpen how we will play rugby next season.

“It also allows me to see how our players can step up, and test themselves against Rams, arguably one of our strongest rivals in National League 1.”

He added: “Ultimately, we can now expect to arrive into pre-season in July carrying some much needed match experience, which will serve us well as we prepare to launch ourselves into the 2021/22 season.”

Matches will be split into four quarters of 20 minutes each, while scrums and mauls will not be permitted.

The 2020/21 season was cancelled at community level because of coronavirus.