Taunton Titans start their drive to get back to National League One on Saturday with an away match against Loughborough Students.

After suffering a disappointing relegation at the end of last season Titans are competing in National League 2 South in 2024-35 and given their closed season signings, including former England and Exeter Chiefs player Ollie Devoto, have made it clear that their intention is to bounce straight back up at the first attempt.

Looking ahead to the new season Tony Yapp the Titans head coach said: “We are pleased with how pre-season has gone for us and the boys have worked really well. We have got a few new faces and the energy levels about the camp has been really good.

“We have managed to retain most of our players and the new players we have brought in have added new energy to the squad. The boys  have worked hard and got a lot of work done during pre-season and the good thing is that they are all desperate to have a big season.

“We need to do as well as we can and it starts on Saturday for us with an away game at Loughborough which is a tough one. The university sides at this time of year are always a little bit tougher before the BUCS matches start, so we are under no illusion that Loughborough away first game of the season is going to be a very tough start for us.

“However we are quietly confident that if we put into practice what we have worked on pre-season and get all the guys fully committed we should hopefully go up there and get a result.”

The Titans head coach continued: “ We had some good results at the end of last season so the good thing for us is that we take that confidence forward with us. If we had just dwindled away it would be difficult to get energy back in the squad at the start of this season, but I think deep down the boys realised from those last four games just how good we can be and how well we can play .

“We hadn’t been far away all season and lost six or seven games where lost by only a handful of points and even had kicks to win games, so to miss out by a point is tough, but at the same time we felt we gave a good account of ourselves in National One and inevitably that’s where we want to get back to eventually.”

The head coach added: “In the meantime we need to get the squad together and start building piece by piece and the big thing for us is that we need to make sure that we are aware of whats going on right in front of us, which is Loughborough on Saturday and we don’t get carried away with the bigger picture which is the course of the season.”