ALEX Rae admitted Coventry Rugby were ‘really rusty’ throughout their 61-21 friendly win against rivals Birmingham Moseley.
Cov began pre-season with a nine-try success at Butts Park Arena and racked up 54 unanswered points in the space of just 33 minutes either side of half time.
And Rae insists his side are where he thought they would be with the new Championship season still more than a month away.
Rae said: “I’m happy overall, it was a good run out and everyone got minutes although we were really rusty through the whole game.
“I know it’s weird saying that when the scoreline is as it is but in all honesty we’re exactly where we expected to be. There’s some good bits, some bad bits and some bits to work on.
“The good thing is we’re going to get our first proper review of a game rather than of training and we will learn from that.
“It was a bit of a frustrating first half for the lads. It was slow, stop-start and exactly what you’d expect from our first proper hit-out.
“The boys who came on at half time then brought some good energy and buzz which we’re really pleased about as for quite a few of them it’s the first time they have been together and played at the Butts.”
Rae also praised his side’s execution at the lineout despite sticking to a ‘simple’ approach.
Rae added: “We had a really simple, basic lineout menu.
“We had the same options over and over so as a caller it was probably difficult and boring and in season it will be a lot different.
“We were just looking to practice stuff we’ve done in training and real basics like the lift detail and the boys were great.
“The only way we get better is having those situations to review – and the same applies to the scrum and the maul.
“There’s loads of stuff to work on and we’re miles off where we want to be, but we will get there over the next month.”
