"It is some time since we competed in the Cumbria Cup with the club's strongest team, and although it was felt in some quarters that we were taking a sledge- hammer to crack a nut, Saturday's was a worthwhile encounter of an entirely different character to league action.

I have come to think that it is important for our status in the county, and the credibility of the competition, that we compete at full strength on this stage. We shall continue to do so in the ensuing rounds, as long as other commitments allow.

Similarly, I am delighted to see the entire team, plus additional squad members, win preliminary nomination for the county, and confidently hope to see a strong representation in the final team.

With yet another reorganisation of the beleaguered county championship, Cumbria is offered a real opportunity to return to Twickenham.

If it can brush aside the mighty challenges of Oxfordshire, North Midlands and Durham, then Headquarters awaits in the final of the new middle tier competition.

I have come to believe that it is important that Kendal plays a full role in Cumbrian rugby, and that participation in the Cumbria Cup and county team are an important part of this.

While it is not always easy to get excited about a competition that begins in August and finishes the following April, I hope that we will be able to take a full part in the cup over this, and future, seasons.

A return to league action on Saturday brings an altogether different challenge.

On the one hand, we must be confident with a record of only a single defeat since the first week in December, and a sequence of defensive displays without parallel in recent years.

However, the national team have shown how easy it can be to descend from cock of the midden to feather duster with unseemly haste.

When Martin Johnson held aloft the Webb Ellis Trophy, it was difficult to imagine that only 18 months later, England would share the basement place in the Six Nations Championship with the hapless Scots and hopeful Italians.

Mindful of this message, there will be no room for complacency, nor danger of grass burns, at Mint Bridge on Saturday.