Wrexham coach Alan Jenkins says his side will benefit from a challenging pre-season ahead of Saturday's Division Two North opener opener against Rhyl.

In addition to an emphatic 68-5 success against Stafford, Wrexham have also tested themselves against Division One sides Caernarfon and Ruthin this summer.

Jenkins said: "We lost both of those games against strong Division one sides, but not by many.

"We went through the moves and patterns we'd worked on in training and looked good for large parts of both games despite them being a league above us and we'll learn from those games.

"Our forwards have looked good in pre-season and Saturday's pack should be quite a strong unit.

"We had an expansive game last year and have tried to develop that this summer. Hopefully it will be a fast and open game.

"Rhyl showed last season that they can play an open game and they have a decent pack so it should be an exciting game."

Elsewhere in Division Two, Newtown host Cobra, Llanidloes visit Abergele, Teirw Nant head to Welshpool and Dolgellau host Colwyn Bay.

Mold side kick-off their Division One season at home to Llandudno, with Ben Grundy's men looking to improve on last season's impressive fifth place finish.

Newly-promoted Denbigh host a Bala side that finished third last term, while Llangefni head to Caernarfon and Bethesda host Bro Ffestiniog.

A much-changed Shotton Steel side will start life in Division Three tomorrow, with new coach Dave Connolly taking charge of their opener at Llangefni seconds.

Connolly now occupies the role vacated by Mike Roberts, who led the Steelmen to promotion to North Wales Division One last term.

An exodus of players through retirement, work and family commitments over the summer prompted club officials to turn down promotion, with the Steelmen subsequently demoted to tier three.

A club statement said: “We have decided to accept the move to Division Three because we put players’ welfare and the integrity of the league above short term goals for the club.

“We have been around 48 years and intend to be around for a lot longer. Hopefully the other teams in the area support our decision and we look forward to hopefully a successful season.”

Rhos start their Division three campaign with a difficult home fixture against Holyhead.

The hosts are short at number ten with Dewi Richards and Mike Evans Jones both unavailable, with veteran Simon Bennion to fill the outside half berth.

The visitors narrowly missed out on promotion last term and are expected to set the pace in the division this season.

Mold seconds head to Pwllheli seconds, while Benllech host Machynlleth and Menai Bridge head to Denbigh seconds.