Nine tries, including a hat-trick for right-wing Josh Smith, saw Redingensians Rams ease to a comfortable National League 3 South West defeat of one from bottom Oxford Harlequins at the Old Bath Road Ground on Saturday.
In truth, Rams, rampant in the scrums, should have won by more considering the possession they enjoyed, but too many handling errors, disrupting their rhythm at vital times, let them down, particularly in the opening half.
Skipper and lock Owen Root, while delighted to get the side back on the winning trail following their defeat at Old Patesians a fortnight earlier, admitted afterwards: “Yes very pleased and there was certain things we did very, very well, but there are definitely clear areas where we need to work on before next week and the visit of Weston-Super-Mare
“There were far too many handling errors but, to be fair, it’s the first time I’ve seen that at this club, we’re usually a very good handling side and it’s something the coaching staff will work on in mid-week.”
Rams made a lively start and it was obvious from very early on that they would dominate the set-piece scrums.
But they had to wait until the 10th minute before opening their account when good work from outstanding No.8 Ian Jefferies and powerful centre Steve Bryant carved out the opening for the first of Smith’s three touchdowns, well converted by fly half Guy Swadling.
While the visitors replied when Rams gifted Quins the ball and allowed them into their 22 for the first time resulting in a converted try for full back Harry Wittington, Rams struck back within three minutes when flankers Rudal Aiono and Andrew Amor combined to send full back Joe Duffelen over in the corner.
A charged down Wittington clearance paved the way for Rams third, on 35 minutes, as Jeffreys set up Smith for his second and, again, converted by Swadling to lead, 19-7, at the break.
And two tries in six minutes of the restart, from Aiono and Amor, neither converted, had extended their lead to 29-7 before Quins second try touched down under a pile of bodies by flanker Ram Faramani.
A superb jinking run from Swadling saw the fly half power over for Rams sixth try and convert his own effort to take him well past the 100 points for the season while he also converted debut-making lock Tom Bryson’s touchdown three minutes later extending their lead to 43-12.
Smith claimed his hat-trick soon after and, right on the stroke of 80 minutes, full back Duffelen weaved his way over for try number nine and a fourth successive conversion for Swadling.

Rams: Duffelen; Smith, Bryant, Gumbleton, Rasbridge; Swadling, Clark; Rumble, Crame, Baker; Root ©, Bryson; Amor, Aiono, Jeffreys. Reps – Owen, Hughes, Gough.