RUGBY: Southend Saxons begin life in Regional One South East against Bedford Athletic on Saturday.

Southend enjoyed a season to remember last time around, winning both the Regional Two Anglia title and the Regional Two Championship final at Twickenham.

And Saxons co-captain Matt Wagstaff cannot wait to get going once again.

“Everyone is excited to get the league campaign underway,” said Wagstaff.

“Off the back of last season, we want to continue the form into this new season, and we feel prepared to do so.”

However, Wagstaff knows Southend must be ready to deal with a big step up in standard.

“We expect a step up but we aren’t shying away from that,” said Wagstaff.

“We have made adaptations to our systems and game plans to ensure we are ready for this natural increase in standard of play.

“But we feel ready and look forward to testing ourselves as individuals and as a squad.”

Southend have worked hard in preparation for the opening day of the campaign at Warners Bridge.

But Wagstaff feels the cancellation of a scheduled friendly against Ironsides has slightly affected the group.

“Pre-season has been up and down in all honesty,” said Wagstaff.

“Training has been really intense and new players have got stuck into everything.

“However, having a team pull out of a game means you lose that game practice and sharpness.

“ In saying that, the matches and training over the past two weeks have been physical and we’ve found out a lot about ourselves ready for Saturday.”

Southend drew 31-31 with Brentwood in their final pre-season clash at Warners Bridge.

And Wagstaff is expecting another big challenge.

“We are expecting a physical game and I am sure they will want to impose themselves on us as the newly promoted team,” said Wagstaff.

“However, no doubt we will have a very strong 18 to go out and deliver a performance to be proud of, and we will also have our amazing supporters cheering us on.

“A lot of opposition are new to us, so we are just thinking about ourselves and delivering a very strong 80 minutes performance.”

Bedford finished 10th in the 12 team table last season, nine points above the relegation zone.