LEEDS TYKES have made a “disappointing” start to the new National One season but their director of rugby believes the lessons learned from last year will serve them well.

Leeds lost their home opener to Cambourne by two points a fortnight ago and then weren’t at the races for their big Yorkshire derby with Sheffield RUFC last weekend.

Nevertheless, they have taken three bonus points from those games, and are already better placed than they were a season ago on their first foray back into the third tier.

Back then they lost their first five games before rallying to win 11 of the next 21 games to finish ninth in the 14-team division.

Leeds Tykes director of rugby Pete Seabourne. (Picture: Tony Johnson)

placeholder image — Leeds Tykes director of rugby Pete Seabourne. (Picture: Tony Johnson)

Pete Seabourne said: “There's no need to panic, we've got three points out of the first two games. That's the positive. We know what it feels like from last year.

“We just need to trust the process. We know what we're doing, we know what we're about, it's just a case of being patient. When things click into place, we're a good side, we're a physical, mobile side.

“When that first win comes, it's that little bit of relief.”

After the way they finished last season, expectations were a little higher for the 2026-27 campaign, which is why the slow start has come as a surprise.

“It’s been disappointing,” admitted Seabourne. “We had a bit of a mixed bag of pre-season and probably came in a little bit undercooked when we went to Camborne.

“We were 24-7 up at one point. They scored on half-time and then they got the momentum, I still thought we should have won it.

“Last week at Sheffield, just disappointing from start to finish. We never got going.

“Fair play to Sheffield, they kept the ball in play a lot. On an average game, we make between 100 and 115 tackles. Against Sheffield we had to make 189 compared to their 60, so it just shows the possession they had and what we didn't have. To keep it to 19-12 is probably fair play to the players.”

London Scottish, relegated from the Champ last season, are next up at the Sycamores today, a tough challenge for the Tykes as they look to make up ground on their ambition for the season.

“The first aim is to stay up, obviously. That's always the first target, and then from there, how high can we be?” said Seabourne.

“We want to be higher than we were last year. We need to keep moving forward because the plan is hopefully to get back in the Champ at some point in the next foreseeable future.”