Haywards Heath have taken Sussex rugby to a whole new level with their National League adventure.

They have set new levels of skills and fitness, travelled the breadth of the country, taken serious physical punishment and survived to tell the tale.

Now, as the new domestic season gets underway, the county's leading side are being told to do it all again. Only this time, do it better.

Heath kick-off their second season of National Three South action at Whitemans Green tomorrow when Weston-super-Mare visit.

Weston are the team Heath beat towards the end of last season to virtually guarantee another season at this level.

Survival was a triumph in their first season out of the regional leagues. New coach Ian Davies and skipper Gordon Denslow will not settle for just staying up this time, though.

Davies, 31, whose move from Worthing was the most high profile transfer, on or off the pitch, in Sussex rugby this summer, insists they are equipped to push even higher.

And Denslow, who has previously captained Lewes and Sussex, added: "There's no reason why we can't go anywhere in this league and win games."

Davies has built up a wealth of coaching experience since a knee injury ended his playing days at the age of 19.

Since moving to Sussex, he has masterminded league and cup success at UC Chichester and Worthing, though there were signs the momentum was just starting to run out at Roundstone Lane last season after two successive promotions.

Now, though, he insists: "I've got a bit of a buzz back again. It's like starting from scratch.

"We are working with new methods and the players are learning and questioning them as well, which is testing me as a coach."

Heath have not made dramatic changes to their squad, though they have lost three useful backs.

Huw Griffin has gone to Rosslyn Park, John Groenen to London Scottish and Stuart Charnley has not reported back for the new campaign.

Henry Goodburn and Vince Rolandi both start the season on the injured list.

James Mackie's brother Angus, a full back or scrum half, has signed while new centre Elgan O'Donnell, from New Zealand, starts tomorrow.

Forwards Russ Sheppard and Dave Cook are back at the club.

Heath suffered a rude awakening when they started life in National Three this time last year. Twenty points up at half-time, they crashed 22-20 to a moderate Tabard side and went on to lose their first five games.

Denslow, who takes over from Alex Meredith as skipper, insists they have learnt since then.

He said: "We are expecting an improvement this season.

"Last year we learnt that the pace of the game is quicker than we were used to but we also learnt that there was nothing to fear from these teams. I'm thoroughly looking forward to the season. The club is advancing quite rapidly. Behind the scenes it's vastly different from the previous set-up.

"The coaches have asked us to embrace new ideas, new techniques, new lines of running and I think we have done that."

Davies is happy to offer potential signings the guarantee of good rugby every week because he will not be handing out wads of cash.

He said: "In terms of pay, it's a totally amateur ethos here. That's a bit of a problem, to be honest, in terms of player recruitment."

Despite that, Heath should be good enough to survive and offer the best standard of club rugby ever seen in the county. Just expect plenty of knocks and bruises along the way.