EXPERIENCED forward Will Morgan will be making his final first-team appearance for Tenbury Rugby Club in Saturday’s derby at Bromyard.

Skipper Pete Stevens admits he’s not been successful in trying to talk Morgan out of hanging up his first-team jersey.

“Will said he will continue to play rugby for our second team next season and he will still be around the club – so that’s a very positive thing,” said Stevens.

“Will has talked about retiring from the first team for a while. I have tried to talk him out of retiring, but his mind is made up.

“His first match for Tenbury was against Bromyard and he thinks it’s a fitting match to finish on because he’s not around for our final game of the season.

“He started his career at Tenbury before going to play for Worcester and he’s come back to Tenbury to finish off his rugby.”

Stevens added: “It will be a shame to lose Will’s experience and play from the first team because I still think he’s one of the best ball carriers in the side.

“Will feels he’s taking the place of a younger player. He’s coming up to 45 years old now and it’s probably a good time to step down with the younger players coming through.

“He will certainly be up for the derby on Saturday and we should be expecting a rousing display from Will.”

Tenbury are now safe from relegation from Midlands Four West (North) after winning their last five matches but Stevens is expecting a hard-fought match.

“We had a very hard game against Bishops Castle and it was very nice to have a weekend off,” said Stevens.

“We have Andy Wilkes out and we have two replacements for his position.

“When we played Bromyard at Christmas their backs were good and made life very hard for us.

“But we have made some excellent signings and, with Dan Rawlings and Luke Brittain on fire at the moment, I’d like to think we could give Bromyard a few problems.

“Hopefully, we can overcome Bromyard and then beat Cannock in our last match to come either fourth or fifth in the league.”

Stevens says his four-year-old son, Freddie, will be cheering on Tenbury.

“Hopefully, Freddie, will be there as our mascot and a lucky charm and he will be cheering Tenbury on to victory.”