Having started superbly in building up a 24-0 lead against visitors Aberavon last Saturday, the Welsh wizards upped the ante toe eventually take the spoils 38-24.
But with Ant back from a gruesome elbow injury suffered against Plymouth back in March, and the chance of a reunion with 126-cap Drew at Veritas Park, Seb was keen to point out the qualities which helped them fire Rams to record-breaking levels – and how the new group can kick on.
Prop is ‘first class’
Starting with Ant’s recovery – his second after a serious knee injury back in 2017 – Seb began: “He’s just first class. He’s taken the positives of an injury and realised he wants to keep playing, to get to the 100 caps for the club and it would be an amazing achievement.
“But moreover, he wants to be part of this group, he’s stepped up to a different role and with some other experienced players stepping away, he’s just done it so well with the way he is.
“He helps everyone around him and that’s the way to lead in a group – he’s been fantastic – and while he picked up a little hamstring niggle a few weeks ago, the medical team have done a brilliant job and we can’t wait to have him back.”
The Director of Rugby continued: “The younger lads can learn so much from Ant. Sometimes people can be a bit impatient and want things very quickly, but sometimes you’ve got to remember it’s the graft you put in every day which gets the rewards.
“You can have dreams and grand ideas about what you want to do, but to achieve it you’ve got to put in the day-to-day grind and Ant is one of those whose just always there, ready to go, in the gym, doing his work, constantly taking on feedback and looking to improve.
“He joined us a tight-head from Wallingford having played at Didcot, then we converted him to loose-head – he played a bit in the back row as well – but he’s just gone from strength to strength and he’s such an important member of this club.”
Praise for ‘club legend’ Drew
Drew, meanwhile, joined the club ahead of the National Two South title-winning campaign of 2018/19, proving one of the great recruits and including a remarkable run of 68 matches without missing a game during an influential spell at OBR.
Mixing affection and humour, Seb commented: “Drew was a brilliant player for us and I hope he’s there tomorrow – although he does love a pre-season holiday!
“It’s great while he’s moved down to Devon with a new job he’s kept playing rugby, and he’ll always be a threat whenever he plays.
“He’s a club legend here and his ability to get over the gain-line was so powerful for us. You fast-forward after Drew left last year and we’re looking to repeat that with Morgan (MacRae) this week, as a back-row convert we’re not over-complicating things for him but we liked what we say against Aberavon.”
Taunton ‘a quality club’
And turning his attentions to Taunton, who are one of Rams’ most ever-played opponents, the head coach is delighted to be heading back to the West Country for what should be a tough test against the National Two promotion hopefuls.
He said: “It’ll be nice to see them again, they’re a quality club and we’ve had many battles over the years – I remember when we came into National Two, the first year Redruth taught us a lesson on the opening day and then Taunton did the same 12 months later.
“It’s pre-season so the main aim is to sort the conditioning of your players, see where you’re at and we learnt a lot of stuff from last week.”
And a final word focussed on the back-row battle which will see a youthful Rams contingent take on among others long-serving Royal Navy ace Ratu Vakaloutukali and former Exeter Chief Charlie Wright – two players formerly picked in National One Select XVs.
Seb ended: “They’re two quality players who have been there for a few years – Toots has been superb for a long time and Charlie is a brilliant open-side flanker, they’ve been stalwarts for them in recent years and it will be a test for our guys.”
