COVENTRY Rugby continued their winning start to pre-season with a nine-try 61-26 victory against Caldy.
Alex Rae’s side put their Champ Rugby rivals to the sword with a convincing victory at Butts Park Arena.
Coventry beat Welsh side Rygbi Gogledd Cymru (RGC) 1404 in their first pre-season friendly.
Caldy marked a step up in class for Coventry as Rae’s side dominated the early exchanges.
And the home side scored the game’s first try on 11 minutes as Tom Ball finished under the posts.
However, the visitors responded almost immediately when prop Joe Spronston powered over the line from close range.
And the referee awarded Caldy a penalty try on the quarter-hour mark after Coventry full-back Ewan Baker committed an off-the-ball tackle.
Baker also received a yellow card for the offence to leave Coventry down a man and behind on the scoreboard.
However, the home side responded on 22 minutes as Morgan Strong dotted down in the corner before a Caldy player was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on.
Despite playing with a man less, Caldy crossed for their third try as Tom Sanders forced his way over following a powerful maul deep in Coventry territory.
The hosts crossed at the end of the first half as Oli Morris touched down to leave Coventry trailing by two points at the break.
And Coventry picked up where they left off after the break as replacement Suva Ma’asi powered over just three minutes into the second period.
Just two minutes later, Onisivoro Sukani Nayagi surged to the line from Senitiki Nayalo’s offload to extend Coventry’s lead.
Caldy kept themselves in the contest on 59 minutes as replacement hooker Monty Weatherby drove over to reduce the deficit.
However, Mackenzie Graham’s try on 67 minutes ended Caldy’s comeback hopes as he stepped through a number of tackles to score.
And Caldy then lost Sam Olyott to a yellow card for tripping as Ma’asi claimed his second try with a powerful finish from close range.
Academy graduate Taio Varndell completed the scoring as he pounced on a loose pass to score under the posts from 60-metres out.
Coventry are next in action against an Exeter Chiefs select XV on Saturday, September 20 with kick-off at 3pm at Butts Park Arena.
