Along with all the others who formed the RFU, they are a great club and I’ve long said ever since we came into National One it still feels like walking in the footsteps of giants – Blackheath, Richmond, Rosslyn Park, Sale, Moseley, Plymouth, Rotherham – these clubs are ones you’ve had the utmost admiration for years and years, and suddenly you’re playing them.

I still feel we’re earning our right to be here, and although we’ve had a great start to the season, it’s come on the back of a lot of hard work and it will need a lot more to get a result against Blackheath.

They’re going well, are extremely well coached by James Shanahan and his team, and have some great players including a few old Rams boys who I’m extremely fond of – it will be nice to reunite with them.

It has been a busy week and I can confirm we have submitted our tender for a place in Prem Two – bearing in mind my wife Cath earned an OBE for her work on the London Olympics bid, she said it was almost as tough to try and submit this for the chance to get into the second tier of English rugby!

There were 25 documents which had to be uploaded with details on finances, ground, facilities, structure, coaching, the playing side, future plans, social media, growth, support numbers, demographics and loads more, but fortunately we have a wonderful group of volunteers, and Cath, Claudia (Gibbon) and Leo (Hallam) managed to get it across the line, so fingers crossed.

If we are successful, I believe we’ve shown you can be an effective community club, not just with the numbers, but with what happens on the pitch.

You can’t hide in leagues – they find you out. If you develop a coaching strategy which will make young players better and able to compete at the top level, you expect to see a team competing at the top level.

We’ve demonstrated if you give youngsters the right coaching and opportunities – and we’ve done that by working with the University, local schools and the county – they can perform at those levels.

On that theme, our Colts continue to thrive and have their National Cup third round game at Tring on Sunday.

I love (head coach) Dave (Cox) because of his dedication and the wonderful balance he creates between commitment and performance.

His age group have had a lot of fun all the way through, and he knows how to dial up the level of competitiveness to where they are now.

What you see is what you get with an extraordinarily well-managed age group with outstanding coaches, boys playing with smiles on their faces, and it’s not just about the winning, it’s about the lads going out and showing what they can do.

If you lose, you lose – we got knocked out in the semi-final by Dorking last year and a great side went onto win in.

You don’t mind that; the more important thing is seeing the way the players develop and I take my cap off to the coaching and management team of the Colts because they’ve done a fantastic job.

I said a few years ago I wanted us to give state school kids the quality of coaching you would get at a private one, and with the likes of Danny Batty, Nile Dacres and James Baker involved with the Academy, I believe we are getting there.

They are or were highly accomplished players, good communicators in different ways and they have a lot to share.

They pass this onto the youngsters and give them a boost and we have some great players from both private and state schools.

We’re not trying to drag down the private, they’re a great feature of our country and education system, but what we’re aiming for is to lift the chance for state schools by putting top-quality coaching in there and I feel it’s working.

I’m very grateful to Duncan Lynch Precision Engineering for sponsoring today’s game, and it’s fair to say the club wouldn’t be where it is without Andy.

He’s been a rock for as long as he’s been here, and especially the last 20 years while I’ve been working with him on the ‘Rams project’ as we like to call it.

You can see what he’s done around the ground with the stand, the gantry, the lights – we would not have this infrastructure if it wasn’t for him – and aside from that he’s a great friend with a terrific family who is wholeheartedly committed.

Rams are very, very fortunate to have the Lynchs involved.

Finally, the atmosphere during last week’s comeback win against Sedgley Park was sensational, and hopefully this continues.

Blackheath are a well-supported club, so we want our fans to give it some in the light as well as the dark!

We’ve also got two Friday Night Lights coming up in December which will be exciting – the season is building nicely but we’ve got some great teams coming up, our next three games are against fourth, third and second – so it’s quite the challenge and the support will be crucial.