Rance: Stratford-upon-Avon players deserve a lot of credit
DIRECTOR of rugby Tom Rance says the Stratford-upon-Avon players deserve a lot of credit for their effort this season.
After a difficult start to the campaign and having once gone through a period of 11 consecutive defeats, Rance believes the players deserve all the plaudits for giving 100 per cent every week.
And the Black and Whites chief is targeting more wins between now and the end of the season. “Whether we stay up or not is completely irrelevant right now,” he told the Herald.
“We have got three home games left before the end of the season and it would be nice to win all of them and give the league a memory of Stratford.
“The lads have been through a lot this season but the players that are here now are the ones who were here at the start and they deserve credit for all the work they have put in.
“They travel these long distances to get to away games and then put in a performance which not only they can be proud of, but what I can be proud of too.”
Stratford have a weekend off before they return to action on Saturday, 2nd March when Wimbourne visit Pearcecroft.
The Black And Whites enter the break on the back of last Saturday’s 41-26 defeat away at Trowbridge.
Jo Cook, Dan Whitby, Geoff Dyson and Angus Wightman bagged the tries for Stratford and Gwilym Davis kicked three conversions.
“First and foremost I have to give Trowbridge a lot of credit as their set pieces were very strong - possibly the strongest we have come up against this year,” said Rance.
“Overall I think the result was a fair one, albeit we could have scored one more try than we did and the ten points difference would have been a fair reflection of the game.
“When the performance is up to scratch and the result goes against you, you just have to take it on the chin, but the players deserve the credit as they put everything into the performance and that is all you can ask for from them.”