“It was hard for everyone. For me and the coaches on the side, but even more so the players receiving that.
“It’s a struggle right now, but we’ll come through it.”
Director of Rugby Seb Reynolds pulled no punches following Rams’ 80-7 National One reverse at title favourites Rotherham Titans.
It was the club’s heaviest ever league reverse, overtaking the 77-8 loss against Dorchester in October 2004.
Yet the two sides looked closely matched for the first 25 minutes, Lloyd Hayes converting a James Norman try for the hosts before Rams levelled through Fergus Dick and Mike Cooke.
It was a maiden score for Oxford University Varsity winner Fergus.
‘Rotherham will win the title’
But Titans pulled clear and had a bonus-point secured before the break, Hayes with a double before Mitchell Lacey-Babalola touched down.
And with the wind at their backs, Rotherham were rampant in the second half.
Norman was first to cross before later completing a hat-trick, full-back Isaac Shaw and No. 8 Callum Bustin bagging braces.
John Okafor also dotted down with Xavier Valentine scoring the penultimate of 12 home tries from ruthless Titans.
Commenting on a disastrous day at Clifton Lane, Seb said: “You have to hand it to Rotherham, they’re a good side who will win the title and they’ll deserve to.
“We showed good physicality early on and fired some decent shots, but we just lacked any kind of control of the game over the 80 minutes.
“We couldn’t gain field position, our unforced error count was high and while I felt it was harsh, the (three) first-half scrum penalties didn’t help.
“We wrestled that back well in the second half, but we’d conceded too many points before the break.
“Then the wind picked up and we just couldn’t get out of our 22 in the second half.
“We invited so much pressure on ourselves.”
Glowing praise for stand-in captain Willo
Despite a desperately difficult afternoon, the DoR was full of praise for his back row along with scrum-half and wing-for-the-day Ollie Hodgson.
The 21-year-old received kudos from several of the home supporters and Seb explained: “Hodgy is tough as anything.
“He never shirks a tackle, keeps fighting and while he hurt his shoulder with the number of hits he put in, he’s a quality man and will be a great player for us.
“Fergus has been a brilliant addition to the squad. His line for the try was superb and he did some other very good stuff.
“Willo (Bicknell) is captaining so well in difficult conditions, he’s keeping the guys going.
“He led from the front and is an example of what we need.
“He never dropped his head, kept driving forward and did his best to keep the boys positive.”
‘Some of the players won’t come through this’
The DoR continued: “Aaron (Tull) was dogged all round the park, Liam (Elston) added plenty when he came on and while there can’t be too many positives after a game like this, there are snippets.
“These little nuggets, the guys who put their hands up are important.
“Some of the players won’t come through this, but those who do will go on and be better.
“This result hurts a lot and the redevelopment of the side at this stage is painful.
“But it’s what has to happen.
“The beauty of sport is you have both sides of it. If it was all plain sailing and sunshine and roses it would be boring.
“But you’ll either come through it and be a better man and player, or you’ll crumble.
“We have two weeks left to show which way it’s going to go.”
Rams end the season with back-to-back home games against Rosslyn Park next Saturday and Sedgley Park on April 25.
Currently sixth, bonus-point victories would ensure the Berkshire Boys retain the record of always finishing in the top half dozen since promotion in 2019/20.
So we hope to see bumper crowds for both games!
To book tickets for Rosslyn Park, click here
