Things could not have begun better for the home side as a powerful maul created space for man-of-the-match Ollie Cole to switch the play left for Tomek Pozniak to cross in the second minute.

Fraser Honey’s conversion attempt drifted left, but a moment of magic from the fly-half soon after helped Pozniak double his tally.

A perfectly weighted cross-field kick was gobbled up by the Pole, who then produced a lovely side-step before sprinting in from 30 metres out for a score added to by Honey.

After the opening flurry the tempo dropped – not helped by a series of scrums proving a real mess – and there were no further clear-cut chances until Dings cut the gap with a Jamie Elswood penalty on the stroke of half-time.

Rams scored the try of the game two minutes after the break, slick handling from Rowan Grundy, Axel Kalling-Smith and Morgan MacRae freeing Zach Clow down the right, the speedster finishing superbly to put his side back in command.

Honey slotted the extras, but Dings hit back soon after as second row Will Thompson made a scything break in midfield, the visitors then going through the phases before Nick English burrowed over following a series of pick-and-goes.

Yet Rams went down the other end swiftly, and as they piled on the pressure, Crusaders’ lock Matt Lane was sin-binned for cynically pulling down a maul as the set-piece hurtled towards the line midway through the third quarter.

Younster Oli Rhoads came on for Grundy to make his debut, winning a fabulous turnover before the hosts secured the bonus-point.

And it was the quick-thinking of Cole which provided the assist, the scrum-half tapping a five-metre penalty before sending Kalling-Smith over for one of the easiest scores he will ever finish.

Dings continued to battle, however, and they grabbed a consolation when Lane burst through in midfield before showing a fine turn of pace to finish the job, Elswood with the extras.

However, it was too little, too late, as Rams made one last charge through Pozniak, a knock-on ending proceedings.

Rams head to Leicester Lions next Saturday (2pm).

Final Score: Rams 26-17 Dings Crusaders (Half Time: 12-3)

Scorers

Rams

Tries: Pozniak 2, 6, Clow 42, Kalling-Smith 59

Conversions: Honey 7, 43, 60

Dings Crusaders

Tries: English 47, Lane 75

Conversions: 48, 76

Penalty: Elswood 40

Star Man: Ollie Cole (Rams)