Doncaster Knights new head coach Tom Smith meets players for first time

The former Scotland and British & Irish Lions forward flew in from France yesterday.

He had spoken to director of rugby Clive Griffiths and other members of the coaching staff via Skype on Friday.

He will be introduced to the players at a meeting where plans for the forthcoming pre-season campaign will be outlined before the squad undertake a series of tests.

“All the players were given schedules to follow at the end of the season and I’d expect them all to be in good condition ready for the hard work to come,” said Griffiths.

“They can’t afford to come back off the pace because there is going to be a lot of competition for places next season and they can’t afford to risk falling behind.

“They’ll make a start on pre-season training after all the formalities have been sorted out and we’ll be using the new 3G pitch, which proved so useful during last season, for the first time at this time of the year.

“I’m sure the players will appreciate the fact that the weather is predicted to be cooler than this time last year when it was baking hot.”

Griffiths, who suffered a heart attack early last season, says he will be back out in his tracksuit on the training ground and is likely to be involved with the backs until such time as a new backs coach, if that is the route the club go down, is appointed.

New assistant coach Steve Boden has been in discussions with Griffiths and Smith but will not be involved at Castle Park until July 1st.