CHINNOR and Henley Hawks’ fixture lists for next season have been released.

Oxfordshire’s top two sides will begin their 2021/22 campaigns on Saturday, September 4 – their first competitive matches for 18 months.

In National League 1, Chinnor host Sale, their opponents in the last game before the coronavirus pandemic halted the 2019/20 season in March last year.

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It is set to be Richard Thorpe’s first competitive game as director of rugby, despite joining a year ago today.

Chinnor travel to Sale on April 30, the last day of the season.

Henley entertain Old Albanian in National 2 South as they aim to begin another title challenge, following their fourth-placed finish in the curtailed 2019/20 campaign.

This season was cancelled at all levels of the community game.

Meanwhile, Chinnor have signed ex-England Sevens scrum-half Jack Walsh.

The 28-year-old represented his country from 2013 to 2015 and has made more than 200 appearances in the National League.

Esher are among his former clubs and Walsh is available to face the Surrey side in Saturday’s friendly at Kingsey Road.

The back has moved to the Cotswolds from London and is looking forward to representing his new team.

He said: “I knew Matty Mountford (first XV manager) from the Sevens circuit and, after speaking to him and a few others who have played at Chinnor and who all spoke highly of the club and the people, it seemed like a great move for me.

“I am looking forward to getting back playing and hopefully making lots of appearances for the first XV.

“So far, training has been great. It’s still early days, but the squad’s collective understanding seems to be getting better each session.

“In terms of season goals, it would be great to finish as high up the table as possible and hopefully gain promotion in the future.”

Thorpe added: “He is a very experienced scrum-half who controls the game well.

“He has already added a huge amount to our backline and indeed to our forward pack and I am excited to see him pull on a Chinnor jersey for the first time over the coming weeks.”