RUGBY UNION: COVENTRY’s convincing 55-12 victory over Cambridge in National League One has been labelled as the club’s most ‘complete performance’ by director of rugby Rowland Winter.
It was the fourth time Coventry have gone past the 50-point mark this season as they racked up no fewer than eight tries in front of a large crowd of 1,187 at the Butts Park Arena on Saturday.
The home side held a comfortable 24-0 lead at half-time thanks to first half tries from Scott Tolmie, Darrel Dyer and Rob Knox, all of which were converted by Tony Fenner who also added a penalty goal before the break.
In previous matches Coventry have been accused by Winter of taking their foot off the gas but this time around they kept going to the finish by scoring four tries in the second half as they rammed home their advantage.
A converted penalty try secured the bonus point before Cambridge got off the mark through winger Chris Leatham for an unconverted try.
But Owan James and replacement Brett Daynes added two tries in quick succession, the first of which was converted by Fenner, and Corey Hircok stormed over for try number seven.
A brief Cambridge raid allowed centre James Ayrton to cross and Jack Green converted for 48-12 but Coventry had the final say when the hard-working Jack Willis put the finishing touching to a powerful raid and replacement Will Maisey converted to seal an excellent home performance.
“It was the closest we have got to a full game performance,” said Winter.
“We demonstrated dominance throughout the majority of the game at the breakdown and the set piece and this gave us the platform to control the game.”
The next challenge for Coventry is a trip to eighth-placed Rosslyn Park who have turned their poor start to the season around in recent weeks.
Winter added: “It’s important now that we carry the good form that we have shown in the last six weeks into our away game at Rosslyn Park ,who are in great form now themselves.”
