SWINDON rugby football club are two wins away from walking out onto the hallowed turf at the home of English rugby – Twickenham Stadium.

The level seven outfit take on Reading at Greenbridge Road knowing victory will take them tantalisingly close to something every little boy and girl who has ever picked up a rugby ball dreams about.

The RFU Intermediate Cup is a national competition that sees all level-seven sides qualify through either direct knockout ties or via a group stage depending on the region.

Swindon have already beaten Swanage & Wareham plus Corsham to reach this stage – and head coach Nick Brooks wants his side’s season to revolve around this competition, saying an opportunity such as this cannot be passed up.

Brooks said: “It’s what we’re calling ‘The Road to Twickenham’ – that’s our main focus this season.

“As far as we understand it, if we win on Saturday then we go into one more game. Then if we win that, we’re playing at Twickenham.

“Reading are a very similar team to us in terms of their league placing in their division, and they’re doing really well this season.

“They’ve only lost one or two games and they are the dominant team in Reading – they’ve got the wool over Reading Abbey, so I’m expecting a really tough game.

“On Saturday, it will come down to an even split between each coach’s game plan and the grit and determination of each team.”

Unsurprisingly, Brooks reported nearly every one of his first-team squad replied positively to being asked about their availability for this weekend, while some of the second team have been called up too.

Due to competition rules differing from those in the Southern League South, both teams are allowed to ready an increased number of substitutes too.

Nonetheless, the Swindon head coach said he will take no pleasure in telling those players who do not fit into his plans that they can only support the team from the side lines instead.

Brooks said: “We are trying to keep things as normal as possible this weekend, although we can bring more players onto the bench, so that’s really helpful for us as coaches.

“It means we can take a look at all of our best players from the second team as well as almost everyone from the firsts.

“I’ve got a huge selection headache given that 95 per cent of the players in my team have made themselves available.

“I’m going to have to be quite ruthless this week on selection, but it will be a great experience all week for every player who is selected.”