First time at 'relentless' level for rugby club

A rugby team is set to start its new league campaign at the highest level it has played since it was founded in 1925.

Bury St Edmunds Rugby Union Football Club will compete in the National League 1 this season after promotion from the National League 2 East.

The club, known as the Wolfpack, will play against recently relegated London Scottish, at 15:00 BST at the The Haberden, the Suffolk team's home ground.

Director of rugby, James Shanahan, said the division would be "relentless" and pose a tougher physical task for his players.

Moving up to the National League 1, which is the third tier of English rugby union, will mean long away trips to Bristol, Leeds, Greater Manchester and Plymouth.

Shanahan said moving up a division would be a difficult challenge for his side.

His playing and coaching career has taken Shanahan to clubs across the country, with his first year in Suffolk resulting in promotion.

However, he is not expecting an easy ride and said the team were going to be "very competitive, adding: "The biggest challenge will be can we do that week in, week out, for 26 games?"

Support from fans is an important aspect, according to Shanahan, with one game last season attracting a crowd of 2,000.

He said if the club could regularly have close to 1,000 fans watching home games, "that will make a big difference and make our ground hopefully a bit of a fortress."

He added: "I would hope that people are recognising...that Bury St Edmunds is working really hard on and off the field and we're getting the rewards on the field from it."

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