WHITCHURCH pulled off a thrilling RFU Senior Vase victory in Derbyshire.

And although the try-fest was great for the supporters, Whitchurch coach Scott Sturdy saw things rather differently...

“For the neutral it was an entertaining game, but from a coach’s perspective it was a bit too open and we defended poorly at times, and gifted them a couple of tries,” he said.

“We want to be more attacking this season, but we have to strike a balance between attack and defence.

“Having said that, when we had two lads yellow carded late in the game, we defended really well when they put us under pressure.

“It was another good win. We’ve now won four, if you include our pre-season victory against Bethesda. Ashbourne scored some good tries themselves – we’ve got to give them credit for that – but there’s still plenty for us to work on.”

The Reds will now look to continue their winning ways when they entertain Old Saltleians in the Midlands Two West (North) on Saturday (3pm).

New Zealand-born back Callum Mokaraka, who plays his rugby in Australia, has now arrived in the country, but is likely to make his first-team debut the following week. Before then, he may get a run-out for the second team this weekend.

Whitchurch will be forced into changes with fullback Henry Bull likely to miss the rest of the season through university commitments.

Scrum half Ricky Allman is also out and fly half Ryan Horton is sidelined with bruised chest he suffered last week – but skipper Jake Rees, Matt Owen, Danny Nicholas and Mike Gardiner are all back in contention.

For a full report, see this week’s Herald.