Photo features Rams' Stevie Bryant with Taunton's Lewis Webb (Courtesy of Tim Pitfield)

Game 11 of our National 2 campaign produced a cracking encounter away to Taunton Titans. Both clubs were reeling from injuries, something you have to accept when competing in the 4th tier of English rugby – which is brutal, physical and demanding, but that didn’t stop the two squads putting on a nail-biting encounter which thrilled the neutrals and turned the partisan supporters’ nerves to jelly. Recovering a 24-7 deficit away to Taunton is never going to be easy, so I am extremely proud of our players, and all the coaches and support staff, for never panicking and fighting back to grab a bonus point win.
Although the result reflected a huge team effort, I want to give a special mention to three players:-
• Louis Wolf who, having recovered from injury and illness, came on early second half and made 11 tackles in 35 minutes to help contain one of the most lethal attacks in the division.
• Michael Etete, who has been asked to fill the boots of the outstanding Colin Thompson whilst he has been laid low with a knee injury. Michael is another product of the Rams Academy at Reading University (Louis Wolf came through the same path) and his 10 tackles from second row, plus dynamic carries, were a huge contribution to the victory.
• Finally, Alex Seers, who chased down Taunton’s skipper, Nick Mason (one of the most dangerous backs in N2) to pull off a try saving tackle, and then deep into injury time held up player and ball to deny Taunton’s last attempt to win the game.
As a result of the outstanding commitment of our squad we find ourselves in leading spot in National 2 South. This is a great position to be in, but what matters is where we finish next April, not where we are today. It will take a huge effort on everybody’s part to hold onto the lead.
The good news is that over the next five weeks a number of players should recover from injury, including Ellis Jones, Colin Thompson, Andrew Denham, Robbie Stapley, Rory Paxton, Josh Collis, Matt Allen, Ollie Moffitt, Antony Morris and James Page. It was also good to see Craig Nightingale having his first game for Rams Titans last Saturday following a long absence through an operation to his hand.
You need a big squad to be competitive in this league and my expectation is that, by the end of April, we will have again used over 40 players. If we are to be successful, every one of them needs to be at their best whenever called upon.
Outside of our senior men’s teams, it is great to see our ladies and youth sections doing so well. Our Sirens’ numbers have grown steadily, as has the quality of their rugby. They had a terrific recent encounter against Abbey Nun’s Development Squad (Abbey Nun’s 1st XV play in the second tier of ladies rugby in England) which they lost 7-15, but the squad showed real progress.
Last week, Sirens won away to Barnes, with our star number 8, Sara Hill, running in 5 tries. We have a strong foundation upon which we can build our ladies section. Kerry, Amy and Katie are doing a great job.
On 4th November, the 1st XV visited our Minis, whose numbers have grown strongly over the last 20 years. It was inspiring to see so many boys and girls with smiles on their faces, having fun with their friends and learning the skills of rugby. Chris Stillman and all the age group coaches and managers are doing a wonderful job. The best rugby players express themselves on the pitch, and they do it out of love of the game, and not fear of failure. That is why we emphasise the former.
I have managed to get along to see a couple of Colts games, stolen a glance at a few other junior boys’ matches and watched a round-robin girl’s competition that was organised by Luke and Mark. I am in awe of the dedication of our volunteers, and I am thrilled to see that our coaches are learning to allow players to make their own decisions on the pitch rather than dictating matters from the sidelines. Rugby is a great opportunity for teenage boys and girls to practice decision making under pressure, an invaluable skill for later in life. We must allow our youngsters space to make their mistakes, that is how they learn and grow

Gary Reynolds, CEO – Rams RFC