DIRECTOR of Rugby Seb Reynolds believes his side will learn from adversity following the 34-15 National One home loss to Plymouth Albion.
Rams made a red-hot start with Oli Rhoads touching down in the second minute, but they trailed 15-5 at the break following tries from Shea Cornish and Iwan Jenkins, Frankie Dart adding a penalty and conversion.
A sublime solo score from Jenkins extended the lead before Joel Broadhurst touched down for 27-5 to Albion.
A second for Rhoads gave fleeting hope for the hosts, but Cornish crossed for star man Jenkins to add the extras.
And while Rhoads completed his maiden first-team treble, it was too little, too late.
Reflecting on the game, Reynolds began: “Losing is difficult, but I thought Plymouth were outstanding.
“We started on fire before they played fantastically, building up a comfortable lead with some clinical play, and we also gave them too many launches in our half which they capitalised on.
“Their kick-to-compete was superb and forced multiple knock-ons from us, although I wouldn’t want to be fielding them.
“It’s something for us to look at and work on, but we’re normally extremely good at dealing with it and you just have to praise the accuracy of their player.”
Trailing 8-5 midway through the first half Rams shot themselves in the foot by failing to finish a set-piece before their opponents went to the other end for a key 14-point swing.
And the DoR continued: “We should have finished the maul off.
“It looked like we felt we were going to score and almost took our foot off the gas, and then they pushed us back five metres.
“But those moments are where we’re at as a side right now. There are a lot of new faces and we were always going to have to go through this as a group, but I’m excited to see how they develop.
“If our young players can learn through the adversity and become more clinical, it will come right again.”
Reynolds found positives in defeat, however, with his side’s conditioning and the finishing of hat-trick hero Rhoads at the top of the list.
He revealed: “In the last half-hour I thought we began to break down their defence, and if the game had been close I think we could have got the job done – unfortunately our errors and their top performance meant it wasn’t!
“It’s huge for Oli and hopefully gives him a confidence boost. We want him to take his opportunities and be as physical as he can be, because he’s such a rangy guy and dangerous player.
“He needs to realise just how good he can be, and he’s starting to do that, which is really good.”
A decent crowd of 843 were present despite the threat of rain throughout the contest, and the head coach saved his final thoughts to praise their support.
He ended: “They understand where we’re at as a team – we’re trying to build something with younger players – and I’m grateful for the way they stuck with us on a tough afternoon.
“When we got the score at the end it was a great reaction, so thank you to everyone.”
Rams travel to Leicester Lions next Saturday (2pm).
