The hosts came under wave after wave of pressure in the opening quarter, twice holding their opponents up over the line and being forced to make a huge number of tackles.

And with a 100 per cent record of 12 from Dan’s joint team-high 12, 10 of which were dominant, the man-of-the-match explained: “It was a very good performance and the things we worked on in training during the week worked.

“The line-out was excellent, Nile Dacres called it well and we got quite a lot of front-foot ball off it – we scored one from Robbie making his charge up the line and Maxy nicking it. Standard Max!

“Danny Batty had watched videos of them coming round the corner and they’re big boys, but we knew what we had to do and meet them with double tackles.

“The boys had to put their heads where they aren’t meant to go, but we hit them hard.”

The early rearguard allowed Rams to rally for a 14-0 half-time lead thanks to Fraser Honey converting tries from Hayman and Zach Clow, albeit Club replied four minutes into the second half as Tom Everard powered over, Tom Ffitch with the extras.

The outstanding Stapley grabbed a deserved try, but Blackheath were back within five points following a converted Noah Sloot score.

However, the hosts turned the screw in the final 10 minutes, Honey again on target after replacement Morgan MacRae and the outstanding Solodrau Radianirova crossed – the latter with his first for the club.

In total Rams made 105 tackles out of 112 attempts, and Dan admitted: “It was the most physical game I’ve been in this season, but it was nice. They’re a big side and we had to match that, which I think we did.

“I was happy with myself. I wanted a big game against a good side, and thought the best way to do it was by trying to make some dominant tackles early on.”

Lastly commenting on Army ace Solo and another lively Old Bath Road crowd, the second row ended: “He’s an unbelievable player. I’ve seen him do it before in training and he’s very special – hopefully there will be more tries to come.

“And a big shout-out to the fans because they’re always here – we want to give them plenty more in the weeks and months to come.”