RELIEVED Seb Reynolds believes the way his RAMS’ side just about held off Cambridge’s sensational second-half comeback shows lessons have been learnt from last season.

The hosts raced into a 29-7 lead after 48 minutes on the back of tries from James McRae, Josh Collis, skipper Robbie Stapley and man-of-the-match Alex Seers, the latter landing three conversions and a penalty.

Cambridge had got on the board thanks to a Joe Tarrant try added to by Steffan James’ conversion, but they came on strongly in the final 30 minutes with wing Kwaku Asiedu bagging a brace before a penalty try cut the gap to three points with 12 minutes remaining.

However, despite the Blood & Sand threatening, Ollie Moffitt won a crucial penalty for RAMS on their own five-metre line with a minute to play, enabling them to secure a dramatic victory.

Reflecting on a brilliant advert for the league, Seb admitted: “It was a good game of rugby. If you’re being critical you could argue we let them back into the game a little bit and maybe switched off, but I don’t think that was the case.

“It was two quality National One sides going hammer and tongs at each other, and they could have come back at any moment because they’re a good side and have started the season very well.

“We were playing so well to get into the lead and then they came back well, but I think we deserved the win.”

On the decisive late penalty, Seb added: “It’s what Moff does so well, getting over the ball and to win that was great. We were able to just about force an error at the line-out to finish it off, but that last-gasp drama came after a lot of hard work to get into a position to win against a good side.

“Credit to Cambridge, they came and played some fantastic rugby and everyone got to watch a really good game.”

Rams endured some heart-breaking late defeats at the likes of Taunton Titans, Leeds Tykes and Sale last season, and Seb revealed those setbacks have made his side stronger.

He said: “Those types of losses are all part of the game. Every team has them and if you’re looking to push and improve, you have to learn to live with those rocky moments.”

For the first 50 minutes of the contest RAMS had really turned on the style, and the DoR continued: “There were some superb performances and I thought the way we applied ourselves early on was fantastic.

“We played some very entertaining rugby early on. What we wanted to do we put into action and there were some stand-out performances across the whole group.

“Josh Collis played well, James McRae was outstanding and Robbie (Stapley) is leading the side so well.

“In the backs, Alex is playing some really good stuff, Drew (Humberstone) was solid as a rock in midfield and Charlie (Robson), Birdy and Jak (Rossiter) in the back three got their hands on the ball early on and caused some damage.”

But with captain fantastic Robbie constantly pushing his side forward, Seb reserved his final words for the skipper as he expanded on his belief he is playing the best rugby of his career.

He ended: “When you go through your late 20s into your early 30s you have a period where if you’re still playing and loving the game, you have a different perspective.

“You get a real sense of enjoyment from it even in the most pressurised situations, and Robbie loves the game and he just goes out there and does it.”