ROCHFORD Hundred have fired an early warning to their new London & SE Premier Division rivals by making two early summer signings.

Former Southend scrum half Sam Arnott has made the switch to Magnolia Road, along with ex Saxons prop forward Aston Bevans-Royston.

And Hundred’s director of rugby Chris Green remains determined to build on his side’s back to back promotions.

“We’re pleased with what we’ve done but we’re looking forward now,” said Green.

“We’ve done what we expected but probably did it better than expected in some ways.

“But it’s all about next season now and we’ve been thinking about it for a few months now.

“We have to move on and we’ll be making more signings.

“It’s not about completely overhauling the squad because we’re happy with the group we’ve got but I think you need three or four each year to keep people on their toes and improve the squad.”

But Green is hopeful the new recruits can help Rochford make it three successive promotions after winning back to back promotions without losing a single game.

“It’s going to be a step up but our ambitions are the same as last year,” said Green.

“Whether we’ll do it again who knows but we’ll make no bones about it, we want three promotions in a row.

“But we know it will be much harder to achieve.”

New recruits Arnott and Bevans-Royston share that ambition.

And Arnott is looking forward to lining up alongside a number of familiar faces.

“The club has been doing really well the past couple of seasons so it’s exciting times,” said Arnott, who spent six seasons with Lydney following his departure from Southend.

“Lots of these lads I’ve played with for years which is great so there are relationships on and off the pitch already.

“I’ll be commuting from Gloucestershire and the ambition is to get this club into the National Leagues for the first time.

“Some of the signings are coming down from two leagues above and I think it looks promising.”

And Bevans-Royston, who had been with Old Elthamians, is also pleased to have joined.

“There’s a lot going on here and I’m glad to be a part of it,” said Bevans-Royston.

“All my pals are here from Southend so it will be good to play alongside them again.”