COVENTRY Rugby head coach Alex Rae admits his squad is ‘down to the bare bones’ following their Premiership Rugby Cup defeat against Leicester Tigers.
Cov suffered a 68-26 defeat against the Tigers in front of a record crowd at Butts Park Arena as Rae’s men missed out on a place in the quarter-finals of the competition.
Rae confirmed Coventry could not train on the Thursday before the game due to the club’s ever-growing injury list.
However, with Cov not back in action for over a month, he admits the break in the season has come at the perfect time.
Rae said: “We are down to the bare bones at the minute, we had four forwards, four backs on the bench and our replacement fly-half is wearing a second row’s shirt which was funny to see.
“We are doing it tough but the effort and commitment from the boys is tremendous. This break has probably come at a really good time for us, allowing us to get players back.
“I was really pleased with the way the lads stuck at it. When you looked at that [Leicester] backline before the game it was just full of class and quality and that was the massive difference.
“The biggest thing for us now is to try and get bodies back because it’s not just Saturday but in the week as well which has a knock-on effect.
“We didn’t train on Thursday because we didn’t have the bodies to do it. So for the lads to come out and perform like that was brilliant, people like Jordan Poole who has sore ribs but just got on with it.
“We lost James Tyas before the game and that’s where we are at the minute. But I don’t mind that because we have had Chester Owen come back with 80 minutes, Rhys Anstey has had 80 minutes. That’s going to do those lads the world of good. If I didn’t see the commitment I’d be worried.”
Coventry secured a try bonus point as Aaron Hinkley, Oli Morris, Jevaughn Warren and Josh Barton all dotted down.
However, the Tigers showed their Premiership quality by running in 10 tries as former Cov favourite Will Wand touched down twice for the visitors.
Despite the defeat, Rae enjoyed the spectacle with a record 5,250 spectators in attendance at Butts Park Arena to watch the historic fixture.
Rae added: “At half time I didn’t think the score really reflected the game. They had breakaway tries and I thought their backline was a massive difference, they were very clinical.
“But credit to our forwards. Up front, the scrum was getting on top and we actually controlled the field position very well but those breakout tries gave them some breathing space.
“One of the scores at the end of the half was when we were on their line and then they go the length. Those are real sucker blows but there was loads of learning from the game.
“It was brilliant to have a sell-out for the occasion. Obviously it’s an historic fixture between two teams with a lot of history and even with the rain I thought it was a really good game of rugby.
“This has been building for a couple of years and it’s happening more and more often. The boys love playing in front of a crowd like that.”
Coventry are next in action against Cambridge on Saturday, March 22 with kick-off at 3pm at Butts Park Arena.
