TOM Luke has vowed Thornbury will be a fit rugby side next season after taking over as head coach from Rob Higgitt.

Particularly, Luke has warned the opposition that they will be no pushovers as the pack will ‘front up’ when the new campaign gets underway in September.

The wing, who works as a rugby coach at St Bedes Catholic College in Bristol, will continue the work set in place by Higgitt and, before him, ex-Wales international lock Gareth Llewellyn.

As the squad continue their pre-season training ahead of the new Tribute South West One West season, the 34-year-old said: “I think getting running in the boys legs will make the difference.

“At the time of year when there is a dry ball and fast grounds, we should be wiping the floor with some teams.

“We are three weeks into training and it’s been a bit different so far. We normally start with touch rugby games but we have employed running to get the base fitness up.”

By doing the hard yards now, Luke hopes that Thornbury will benefit when they face tough opposition in the mud of a cold December or January afternoon when fatigue levels kick in earlier.

“Our style of play is not going to change,” said the former winger. “What will change from what Rob has done before I arrived is that games were we have to front up physically, we will do.”

Higgitt will continue with the Thornbury coaching team as an assistant to Luke, and the new boss said: “The Thornbury Way of playing rugby is not going to change. It is some areas from last year and the year before that we have to work on. These are areas were we failed against teams and got beaten up a little bit.

“We are going to work on that by putting the fitness into the boys legs and then try and run teams off their legs.”

And with a young squad that includes rising prospects like 17-year-old Alfie Richardson and Jake Wood, Luke hopes the team will be set to prosper in the new season.