National 2 South
Redingensians Rams 31, Taunton Titans 15

AFTER a stop-start few weeks for Taunton, they returned to action against third-placed Redingensians, who gained revenge for defeat earlier in the season with a win that leaves them six points ahead of the Titans, writes Keith Brooking.

The home side outscored the visitors by five tries to two, and had the advantage up front with the larger pack, which did most of the damage.

Taunton had nine personnel changes in their starting XV and 10 in the whole squad from the reverse fixture, but looking ahead to next season, two more Warriors got their Titans debut.

It was the Titans who started the brightest and took the lead after just three minutes when Gary Kingdom kicked a penalty.

However, it wasn’t long until the Rams scored their first points, with a try in the corner from number 8 Jamie Guttridge on eight minutes.

The rest of the half saw the visitors defending for large periods, and eventually the pressure told, as Rams went over for their second try through prop James Baker in the 39th minute.

The conversion was successful and made the score at half time 12-3.

The home side used their advantage up front well and added two further tries within the first 20 minutes of the second half, through scrum-half Joe Booth on 46 minutes and winger Conor Corrigan on the hour.

With Jordan Souther converting the second of those tries, the Rams now had a 24-3 lead with 20 minutes to go.

The contest was more or less over, but the Titans had their best spell in the match and were rewarded with a try scored by hooker Andy Hamilton on 66 minutes, converted by Kingdom.

The home side put the win to bed with some more forward pressure which resulted in a penalty try, but Taunton finished the strongest, with Hamilton going in for his second, three minutes before the end.

As Eddie Jones himself has remarked recently, “you will learn more about a team in defeat than you will in victory”, and the Titans coaches will have learned plenty about their players on Saturday.

With 11 players that started the season playing for the 2nd XV in the matchday squad, it shows that the South West Pilot League has paid dividends with integrating these players and having them ready to step up when required.

The coaches would have also learned which players are up for the fight and have the correct attitude, not for just the remainder of this campaign, but for next season and beyond.

The Titans are next in action on Easter Friday (March 30, ko 2.30pm), away to Henley Hawks in a match which has twice been postponed.

Taunton Titans: Kingdom, Struminski, Fraser, Carter, Claydon, East, Banks, Edwards (Francis 60-66, Tribble 75), Francis (Hamilton 41), Wilman (Tribble 41-60), Persey (Samways 67), England (Hooper 52), Harvey, Fleming, Oliphant-Thompson (Prior 54).