SOUTHEND Saxons head into their final game of the season this weekend looking to secure second place in Regional Two Anglia.

Saxons are currently second in the standings, four points ahead of HAC who head to Warners Bridge on Saturday.

And Southend’s director of rugby Josh Ward is determined to end the campaign on a high.

“For us second place is now up for grabs,” said Ward.

“A few weeks ago we were worrying if we would be top three so the fact second place is now in our hands means there’s a buzz and a motive to finish well this week.

“It’s a big day for the club as well, the Priors have got Hertford, there’s a band playing in the evening and the England game is on too.

“It’s all set up to be a great day and hopefully we can make sure we’re fully focused on the tough task ahead.”

However, Ward cannot believe Southend’s season is coming to an end so soon.

“Primarily it’s crazy scheduling to be provisionally finishing a rugby season on the 11th March,” said Ward.

“It’s not good for the community game in my opinion either in terms of revenue and those sort of things.

“We’re a big fan of the cup competition but believe it should be incorporated within the season.

“To piggy back it at the end of a tough league campaign it will be interesting to see how it runs.”

But Southend are only focusing on the league right now and Ward was happy to see his side triumph 34-14 at Chelmsford last time out.

“It was a really big performance,” said Ward.

“We knew it was going to be a really difficult place to go and if there were two games Chelmsford this season were going to turn up for it was against us.

“They came over to us earlier in the season and were pretty impressive.

“We found a way to win that day but on Saturday I thought we were outstanding and that’s both the Saxons and the Priors.

“Their second team have won a huge number of games this year and for the Priors to win 27-8 was massively impressive.”

And the winning results were achieved despite a lengthy injury list.

“Regarding the Saxons it was a massive performance because we’ve had a tough month in terms of injuries and Saturday was no different,” said Ward.

“But the boys put their bodies on the line and the physicality was outstanding.

“Our game plan came to live and that’s massive credit to the players.

“To go to Chelmsford and ruin the party I was really pleased with how we went.”

And the match again saw other members of Southend’s squad having to step forward.

“Over the last three or four weeks guys have had opportunities or have had to adapt in terms of where they are playing,” said Ward.

“There’s a real positive in terms of that and maybe some guys who haven’t had their opportunity within the Saxons set up have now had that.

“They’ve been exposed to first team rugby and that’s only going to make them better players. We’re not playing a violin to ourselves but it has been a difficult window.”