SEB Reynolds was delighted with Rams’ second-half performance as they overcame a lively Leicester Lions side to triumph 36-19 at Westleigh Park.
The visitors – who lost skipper Robbie Stapley to a niggle in the warm-up – were 12-0 down early on as Arthur Allen and Toby Cousins touched down, Luke Bouchier converting the first score.
Debutant Jasper Spandler struck back for Rams, stand-in captain Fraser Honey with the extras, and Zach Clow’s 10th try of the campaign levelled things before the break.
A converted Tom Vooght score put the away side in front, Honey then landing a penalty, but a Liam Burrows seven-pointer gave Lions hope.
However, two more converted Rams tries, both their first for the club from Oli Rhoads and Jake Murray, ensured a hard-fought victory which put the Berkshire men top following Sale’s defeat of previous leaders Richmond.
Reflecting on a tough battle, the Director of Rugby began: “We had a change in the warm-up with losing the skipper and we had to ride the storm – Leicester started very well and were very much on top of us early on.
“There were two elements in they had their launch plays going well and cut us open, but also, we dropped off a couple of tackles and didn’t get our spacings right.
“I’d expect us to be on top of that and then we did, which was good, we got it done reasonably well in the end.”
Leading from the front was Bath loanee Spandler, with the Reynolds continuing: “He got some cramps towards the end and we had to whip him off to make sure he’s ok, but he played superbly well.
“He was very physical in the contact area, did well finishing off the maul and he also threw superbly. Credit to him and Morgan (MacRae) because they’ve both been superb in the past few weeks.”
With the visitors having clawed their way level before the break, they produced an excellent effort after the interval, but the DoR admitted there were no teapots thrown in inspiring the improvement.
He said: “It’s our job to prepare the team the best we can with all the information you have before the game, but on the day it’s just a case of little reminders about what we want to do and it’s the players who work it through.
“I felt our discipline was poor, especially when we got into their 22, and then gave up field position, and it’s something we’ll need to work on.
“But we pulled things together and scored a couple of nice tries, and we’ve got to maintain that.”
Alongside Spandler, four more Under 21s in the form of try-scorers Rhoads and Murray, plus debutant Joe Pannese and late call-up Harry Stone, all caught the eye with displays which bode well for the future.
And Reynolds remarked: “We’ve always got a good core of youngsters coming through, but we’ve also got a fantastic senior group who support them – you have to have the balance.
“Harry stepping in for Robbie had a very physical game which was good, Jasper and Joe on debut were great and I was very pleased for Oli to get his first try.”
While Murray took man-of-the-match honours, there was yet another outstanding performance from the industrious Dan Swain in the second row, with the head coach saving his final thought to compliment the former Taunton Titan along with the terrific support brought from the away support, and especially the touring Under 14s.
He ended: “I’m not sure Dan chucking the off-load after making the line break was his best moment, but he’s hit some lovely passes this year, his physicality is superb and he’s just a fantastic player – we love him, and he’s been brilliant since joining the club.
“The support means a lot to everyone – I said before the players were talking about it on Thursday night.
“We’ve got a core of guys who go and coach the juniors and it helps build the connection – Ben (Atkins) has been involved with that age group and there are others as well in the junior section, and we can’t thank them enough for their support.”
Rams are on the road again with a trip to Sale on Saturday (2.30pm)
