RAMS’ Director of Rugby Seb Reynolds was cautiously optimistic following Rams’ final 42-28 pre-season friendly success at Chinnor on Monday.
Having been pipped to the post by their neighbours, who went onto be National One champions last term, the Berkshire men had the upper hand this time despite falling behind to an early Alun Walker converted try.
Yet from there they showed their class, four unanswered scores from Ellis Jones, Zach Clow (two) and Polish international debutant Tomek Pozniak establishing a 28-7 lead with Fraser Honey nailing a quartet of conversions.
In a game played across three periods – 30, 30 and 20 minutes – Chinnor hit back at the end of the first through James Bourton, Nathan Chamberlain’s second kick cutting the gap to 14 points.
A sensational Honey cross-field chip floated into the arms of captain Max Hayman as Rams extended their advantage after the first break, their hosts hitting back as Luke Carter sniped over.
After Chamberlain reduced the deficit to 35-21, the visitors put their foot down again with a brilliant team try, Clow’s surge down the right enabling Olise Monye to dive over.
Honey added the extras again, and while Henry Pearson pulled one back for the hosts, Rams were well worth their win leading Reynolds to say: “I’m very happy because it was a good contest. Chinnor’s maul early was a big threat and they got the early score, but we hit back nicely and played some good stuff.
“It was their first hit out and they were blowing off the cobwebs, but what’s nice is there’s always a bit of spice because it’s a local rivalry we respect greatly.
“It was a pre-season game, but the processes and things we’re looking to put in seem to be coming.”
He continued: “The thing I’m most pleased with from the past eight weeks is the effort, enthusiasm and physicality the players are putting in – they look good for 80 minutes and it’s all you can ask for.”
Man-of-the-match Clow stole the show with his brace, but fellow back three men Andrew Lamb and Pozniak also caught the eye as Rams continued to renovate their squad following the departures of George Makepeace-Cubitt (Northampton Saints), Charlie Robson (Coventry), Henry Bird (Retirement), Jak Rossiter (Camberley) and Finn Matthews (travelling).
Reynolds explained; “Andrew’s a different kind of footballer to what we’ve had in recent years, so we’ll need to get used to how he does things, but he’s had a very good impact on the side.
“He’s also a great lad and Poz again is different, it’s so interesting seeing him play and a good one for us as coaches because we need to work out how we develop him – he had a great introduction against a Championship side.”
There were plenty of other eye-catching displays with 19-year-old Harry Stone again making some notable contributions, while the older guard were also highly impressive with the DoR commenting: “Harry’s got a nice turn of pace which has come out in the pre-season games – it’s something you perhaps don’t necessarily see in training, but he’s a ‘lovable headbanger’ and one we felt after a block of training, always capable of producing the kind of moments he has.
“Then you have the likes of Drew (Humberstone) who has rolled back from honeymoon and the physio table with a bad back – he was grumpy with me for not playing him last week – and then he came out and produced the business.
“I’ve said it before, but I truly mean it – we’ve got guys like Drew, Robbie (Stapley), James Baker, who’ve been here a long time, but they respect the way they need to do things and develop, and they just seem to keep adding to their game.”
With less than two weeks until Rams begin their National One campaign at home to Darlington Mowden Park (September 7), there were plenty of travelling fans who enjoyed a win under the sunshine, with the head coach keen to have things move into overdrive back at Old Bath Road.
He ended: “The support was again incredible, and we can’t wait for DMP in a couple of weeks. Thank you to everyone who came over and hopefully on we can have a huge crowd to get things going to start the season.”
