COLTS coach Dave Cox was relieved to reach the last 16 of the National Cup for the second year on the spin following the 27-12 victory at Tring on Sunday.

An accident on the M25 left Rams short of players for the scheduled 1pm kick-off, but with proceedings getting underway 40 minutes late, the visitors overcame a difficult opening hour to secure a fixture at Rosslyn Park on January 19.

Despite the disruption it was the visitors who started brighter, Jack Mander blasting over inside two minutes.

Tring hit back with a converted Will Orris effort, but the Rams’ maul was in full power mode and Ant Jessett rode one over for 12-7 following Matt Cox’s kick.

Alex Cable levelled matters before the break, but a Cox penalty nudged the away side back in front.

And following a frustrating opening hour, Rams finally hit their straps in the final 10 minutes, Declan Grobbelaar with a brace to set-up a 2025 trip to London.

Commenting on a not ideal day which ended on a high, Dave admitted: “It wasn’t the ideal preparation, but no excuses.

“We were a little inaccurate in the first half – I thought we had opportunities to build a score, but we kept giving them chances after we scored to get one back.

“In the second half we were going up the slope, into the wind, and the boys had to dig deep. They did though, and I thought we deserved to win in the end.”

He continued: “It’s hugely important to win when you’re not at your best, but it’s worth saying I think we weren’t because of the pressure Tring put on us – credit to them.

“We’ve won a couple of games fairly comfortably recently, but they brought a huge amount of intensity and forced errors on us so I give them a lot of admiration, they’re a very good team.”

A feature of the first half was the considerable power of the Rams’ set-piece, and Dave added: “Some weeks the maul works, others it’s a work in progress, but it was spot on and devastating once it got rumbling. Glyn (Mosses) has done an amazing job with them.”

From the blunt instrument of the maul in the opening stages came the rapier blade of two-try Grobbelaar late on, with the head coach stating: “He’s a fast boy and some finisher – we could have done with getting the ball to him a few more times!

“When he got space, he just pinned his ears back and didn’t worry about the cover coming across, he backed himself and finished them both well.”

Having reached the semi-finals before losing to eventual champions Dorking last season, Dave ended by explaining the importance of staying in the hat during the early stages of the competition.

He concluded: “The first three rounds you have hope, but you never know who you’re going to play – we’ve had three very tough games and I’m sure the next will be just as hard, but at least now we’ve got past Christmas again!”