ALEX Rae praised his side’s ‘fight’ after Coventry Rugby clinched victory from the jaws of defeat against Hartpury University.
Storm Darragh prevented both teams from playing free-flowing rugby as Daf Tiueti’s last gasp try and Liam Richman’s conversion sealed a narrow 14-13 victory for Rae’s men at Butts Park Arena.
And Rae felt his side ‘dug deep’ to secure a seventh successive Championship win after finishing the game with 14 players due to a late injury to Rhys Anstey.
Rae said: “It was one of the worst games I’ve watched in a long time. The conditions were really tough with the majority of the game played down one side of the pitch because of the wind.
“We threw everything at it and when you roll all the subs on and you’ve got no-one left on the bench you know there’s some risk.
“When Rhys got injured it was one of those times where you’ve just got to get on with it as you can’t do anything about it.
“Will Lane came on and brought some good energy at half-back then at the end Jordon who has been sat down for 15 minutes came back on and made a couple of really important carries leading to the try.
“Massive credit to the lads – with 14 men to go and find a winning try in front of the posts could be massive in terms of this season.
“You can see how much fight they’ve got for each other and the club. They dug deep again and found a way to win a game of rugby, which at times we looked like we were doing our best to lose.”
Tiueti crossed in the final seconds after Tiki Nayalo scored an early try for the home side only for Hartpury to respond with the visitors ahead from just past the half-hour mark up until Richman’s conversion at the death.
The result means Coventry sit two points clear of Ealing Trailfinders at the top of the Championship table.
Coventry are next in action against Cornish Pirates on Saturday, December 14 with kick-off at 2.30pm at The Mennaye.
