ALEX Rae heaped praise on David Opoku’s record-breaking feat in Coventry Rugby’s dominant victory against Nottingham.
Opoku scored five tries as Coventry romped to a 67-5 success against Nottingham at Butts Park Arena.
The young winger is the first player to score five tries in a single match for Coventry in the club’s history.
And Rae insists Opoku should be proud of his try-scoring achievements after writing his name into the club’s record books.
Rae said: “Five tries is a brilliant achievement and he’s written his place in history.
“Dave may not understand how brilliant it is to have your name written into the history books because someone has to try and take it away from you.
“There is a long history to this rugby club and he should be really proud.
“I’m glad because last week we didn’t see the best of David. He is a young player learning how to prepare properly but this week he got his reward.
“He was one of the first ones we wanted to nail down for next season. He is a Coventry lad which is important to us and he’s been with us for a few years now
“His career path hasn’t been one long straight line. Everyone can see his potential and I think he is a really exciting player. He still has loads to work on but I’m really pleased we have him.”
Opoku dotted down twice after Matt Kvesic opened the scoring and a penalty try closed out the first half.
And Opoku crossed three more times after the interval while Tom Hitchcock touched down twice and Aaron Hinkley and Will lane also scored tries.
Coventry ran in 11 tries in total to end a run of four straight league defeats.
And Rae praised his side for showing attacking intent throughout against Nottingham.
Rae added: “I was really pleased to see some attacking rugby in front of a really good crowd. Everyone needed that because we were on a bad little run.
“It was a real 23-man effort and if you were a sub it was a game you really wanted to come on for.
“The foundations were laid by some really smart rugby, Sam Maunder finding gaps and Tommy Matthews doing the simple things well.
“Once we got on top of Nottingham we stayed on top which was really pleasing.”
Coventry are next in action against Ealing Trailfinders on Saturday, May 24 with kick-off at 3pm at Trailfinders Sports Club.
