“We’ve got to find a way to skin the cat.”

Director of Rugby Seb Reynolds was brutally honest about the task facing his side at free-scoring Dings Crusaders on the 4G Shaftesbury Park surface tomorrow.

Despite a 52-42 reverse at Bishop’s Stortford in the opening round of National One, the Bristolians again showed their prowess with six converted tries.

And since reaching Level Three two years ago, Dings have fashioned themselves on an open game.

While they lost 44-36 at home to the Berkshire boys two years ago, they gained revenge with a 31-25 success last December.

And Seb admitted: “They scored a lot of points last week and looked good against a decent Bishop’s Stortford side.

“It was a very interesting game to watch with lots of exciting rugby, and we know the challenge which awaits.

“They play a brand which is incredibly exciting, they always go from deep and play in all areas of the park, keep the ball alive, and we know it will be hard to stop them.

“It’s a huge challenge but we’ve got to find a way to skin the cat.”

Trio of changes from Sale loss

Rams make three changes to the starting line-up from last week’s 50-22 loss to Sale.

Matt Wickham is in for a debut at scrum-half, Darren Atkins the same at full back.

Ollie Stirling steps up from the bench after an impressive outing to join Shay Sainsbury in the second row.

Commenting on Loughborough University graduate Matt, the DoR said: “He’s been great since he joined.

“He formed a good partnership with Ross (McKay) in the first half against Clifton and we’re incredibly excited about his future and to see how he goes.

“Ollie’s also been fantastic in the past three months.

“It’s not so much he’s flown under the radar. He’s just got his head down and got on with things.

“In some ways you want him to realise how good he is, and when he got on at the weekend he had a huge impact. He deserves the start.

“And it’s obviously great to have Darren back.”

The second week of English rugby is historically ‘derby weekend’, with Rams again travelling slightly further afield than when Seb was a player.

But he takes pride in the way the club has moved forward and is delighted by what could be another big away crowd heading to Bristol.

He closed: “We’ve had amazing battles over the years, most recently with Rosslyn Park and Chinnor, but also Henley.

“At the moment Dings are our closest (geographical) rivals and I know a lot of supporters are heading down.

“It’s 1-1 from last season, so we’ve got to go and give it a good crack tomorrow.”