COVENTRY Rugby head coach Alex Rae believes his young players showed great pride in defeat at Hartpury University.
The visitors fell 28 points behind at the 4ED Stadium early in the second half before Cov produced a stirring comeback to come away with two bonus points in a 31-24 defeat.
And Rae praised the response of his young side and came away feeling proud of his group of players.
Rae said: “I think the big feeling is that I’m super proud of the group.
“At 28-0 down, it would have been easy to down tools but there was massive belief at half-time that we could go and win that game.
“I was really proud about the way they went about their work in the second half.
“It would have been easy to let our heads drop.
“That was a super young group that finished the game and I’m really proud of their effort and commitment.
“I think the supporters sensed that as well.”
Tries from Tommy Mathews, Jimmy Martin, Oli Morris and Sam Maunder in a 13-minute spell earned Cov a try-bonus point and losing bonus point.
That came after James Short, Sam Lewis and Mike Austin all dotted down and a penalty try left the visitors with a mountain to climb.
Cov lost captain Jordon Poole to a head injury early in the first half at Hartpury.
And Rae admits he is looking forward to having a week off to allow his players to rest and recover before they return to action against Cornish Pirates.
Rae added: “We are pretty beaten up at the moment so hopefully this rest will allow some bodies to recover and we can have a really strong finish to these last five games.
“I can’t wait for Cornish Pirates.
“It’s always a brilliant fixture and they have had their number on us for the past few games.
“We will enjoy some downtime and we will be hungry to get back to it.”
Coventry are next in action against Cornish Pirates on Saturday, May 3 with kick-off at 3pm at Butts Park Arena.
