BASILDON Rugby Club's Sam Ridley is backing coach Gary Street to work his magic on the team this season.

Basildon have kicked off the new London Two North East campaign with two successive defeats.

But fly-half Ridley is certain Street, who guided England's Women’s team to World Cup glory last season, will soon have Basildon firing on all cylinders.

"Since Gary's come to the club everything feels really positive, not just among the players but everyone involved with the club," said Ridley, 20.

"In terms of training, Gary's put a structure in place that plays to our strengths and personally I have learnt a huge amount from him in such a short period of time.

"He's an excellent coach and having worked with him one on one on several occasions his knowledge of the game and his way of coaching is excellent so I'm sure it won't be long before we're up and running."

Street shocked many in the rugby world by swapping Twickenham for Gardiners Close.

And Ridley also admitted to being pleasantly surprised by the appointment.

"I first heard about it on the club website and later on we got an email confirming it," said the youngster.

"At the time I didn't know what was going on in terms of appointing a new coach so for the club to be able to bring someone with his experience on board was fantastic news." Street bolstered Basildon's squad during the summer but the new look side still looks to be finding their feet.

An opening day defeat to South Woodham Ferrers was followed by last Saturday's 30-12 defeat at Cantabrigian which condemned Basildon to the foot of the table.

But Ridley is still confident the team will soon be working their way back up the standings.

"We have a side that is good enough to challenge for promotion, and hopefully we can get a few wins under our belt in order to make that happen," said Ridley, who is currently in his second season with the club.

"But for now we will set our sights on the next game and go from there."