Rugby

Sandberg is proud to be a Swedish Viking

Having been born in Sweden, it was perhaps a natural progression for Lee Sandberg to play for the Vikings - even if it is the North Walsham version, across the North Sea from his homeland.

Scrum half Sandberg, 22, played his third game for Sweden last weekend in the European Nations Cup against Holland and he registered his first try for the national team.

“I saw the gap and thought I must go for it,” he said. “My first try for Sweden and I could hear the support from the crowd. We were back in the game and I thought we could turn it around.”

His converted effort brought Sweden to within three points of Holland, but despite a strong push they could not stave off a 19-16 defeat.

Sandberg added: “I was frustrated towards the end. We made a couple of mistakes and maybe we should have opted for a kick once or twice in the second half. But we had a good game considering we hadn't played since May and we only got together on the Thursday.”

Sandberg, who was born in Stockholm and has a Swedish father, is on national duty again tomorrow, against Malta, so will miss Walsham's home match against third-placed Havant in National 3 London & South East.

And although it means missing some club rugby, Sandberg admits he is enjoying his taste of international action: “I still have a lot to learn and I want to take my game to a higher level,” he said. “I'm also proud to be part of this team.”

Without him, Walsham face a tough test tomorrow against a Havant side who have won seven of their nine league games this season.

However the stats show that of the games won, three have been by less than five points and their two defeats were both away at Dorking and surprisingly Tring, who currently lie one from bottom.

The Vikings will hope to field an unchanged pack in which openside flanker Chris Godwin will make his 100th appearance and earn the coveted green blazer. With Sandberg away, the scrum half shirt is likely to stay with young Alex Graf-Grote who will have benefited from the experience.

Adie Ball, absent from last week's defeat at Dorking, is expected to be available and is almost certain to regain the 15 shirt. Iain Young could move to the left wing, although he was struggling with an injury at the end of last week's game and his place could go to Umar Bryce if he has not recovered.

The performance at Dorking was a vast improvement and the home supporters were quick to praise the quality of the Walsham back row of Rossouw, Godwin and Sokia. Despite the defeat, spirits are high in the squad and if the players can replicate most of what they did last week, retain the discipline, and find the cutting edge that will make the difference, they could well take the points.

Vikings (from): S Loose, G Rossouw (Capt), M McCall, A Soutar, C Godwin, J Goldspink, L Davies, P Sokia, S Phoenix, A Graf-Grote, B van Poortvliet, J Loveridge, T Holt, A Ball, J Burroughs, A Pybus, J Turner, D Kelly, I Young, U Bryce,