DIRECTOR of Rugby Seb Reynolds admits his Rams side will have to start better than the last time they visited Birmingham Moseley in tomorrow’s National One clash.

A dreadful opening quarter saw the visitors 24-0 down inside the opening quarter, and while they fought back bravely, the season ended on a low note with a 39-31 reverse.

Following three losses in a row, seventh-placed Birmingham bounced back in fine fashion with a 28-20 success at Sedgley Park last week, and Seb knows a huge battle is on the cards.

He said: “They played very well – Sedgley’s a tough place to go and it was an excellent win for Moseley.

“They’re a good all-round side with threats throughout, and we know what happened last time we went there.

“We’ll need to come out the blocks faster, but you never know how these games are going to play out and sometimes you can’t control the performance of the opposition.

“They played some great stuff early on and while we came back at them, it wasn’t to be – hopefully it will be different this time.”

Rams go into the game having suffered back-to-back defeats – and five in eight games – which sees them three points adrift of new table-toppers Richmond.

However, the DoR is confident things will turn if his side become more clinical.

He explained: “There have been things in both games which have been good. There was a sequence of events which put us 19-0 down at Sale when it could have been the other way round, and last week, there were elements of our play which I thought was the best it’s been all season.

“But there were a couple of times we didn’t defend the maul as well as we could’ve done – Stortford were on the money and thoroughly deserved the win.

“You can’t grumble about it, the results are the results and you have to move on.”

The Berkshire men have suffered a series of costly injuries with Ben Atkins, Connor Stapley, Ed Hoadley and Ellis Jones all hit by long-term ailments since the start of pre-season, but are bolstered by the return of talismanic second row Nile Dacres for tomorrow’s game.

The former Birmingham man won his first 10 Rams’ games before suffering a broken thumb in defeat at Rotherham Titans, but slots into the side after two-and-a-half months out.

And Seb beamed: “Nile’s been great since he arrived – a fantastic influence on the whole squad. He’s added experience, been brilliant with our younger players in helping them understand what it’s like to analyse the opposition and take it into the game.

“He’s been wonderful and set a real example to the whole club, he’s a top bloke and it’s great to have him back.”

Dacres is one of five changes to the side as Bath youngster Jasper Spandler, Polish ace Tomek Pozniak and props Paddy Harris and James Baker also come into the starting line-up.

Ending with a couple of thoughts on Spandler and Pozniak – who is joined by Axel Kalling-Smith in featuring in the newly-launched Rugby 25 video game – Seb concluded: “Jasper produced a fantastic performance at Leicester and after a good performance for Bath in the Premiership Cup, it’s lovely to welcome him back.

“They (Poz and Axel) showed me the pictures of what they look like in the game and I’m not sure it’s quite right!

“But hopefully they can live up to their ratings – or maybe even beyond. It’s great for them.”