Director of rugby confirms Newport’s star player sidelined ahead of Harlequins clash

Newport’s top try scorer Jacob Reynolds will miss “a few weeks” of action due to injury, writes Jacob Jones.

Reynolds was left out of the squad for Saturday’s 29-22 victory over bottom club Syston in rugby union’s Regional One Midlands.

And director of rugby Steve Dolphin has confirmed he will not return for Saturday’s fixture at Oxford Harlequins.

He said: “Unfortunately, Jacob picked up an injury which will be on the sidelines for a few weeks.”

Despite this news, Dolphin remains adamant that the squad has the quality to succeed against a Harlequins side who are ninth in the table.

“Obviously, you don't want to lose a player like that, but it opens opportunities for someone else” said Dolphin. “Our squad is very competitive and the lads who came in on Saturday did a fantastic job.”

Saturday’s opponents Oxford Harlequins were relegated from National League Two East last season, and Dolphin is expecting a tough test.

“They are a side that came down for the National Two last year, so they have some experience,” he added. “I expect them being at home to try and make it very difficult for us.”

Dolphin admitted that Newport will have to play better than they did in last weekend’s narrow victory over Syston if they wish to win on Saturday.

Finley Barnes, Charlie Pugh, Jake Goulson, Thomas Cowell and Charles Saunders all scored tries as Newport came from 22-12 down to triumph.

Dolpin said: “It's just conditions, and you know that was something probably Syston dealt with slightly better than we did.

“Because of that, we made some unforced errors just through a bit of questions and how to sort of play in those conditions - the wind was blowing 100 miles an hour, so it was really tricky to play rugby.

“You've got to adapt and eventually we did that on Saturday.”