Coventry Rugby 26 Ampthill 31 - Mob rule as Cov struggles to paper the cracks

Don't seem to be no break in the line

Don't seem to be no break boys

They ruined my vision screwed up my eyes

I'll tell you what I'm gonna do boys

I'm going back to schooldays

I'm going back to schooldays

I'm going back to schooldays to put them right

I'm going back to schooldays

I'm gonna put them right...

Back To Schooldays - Graham Parker

The first 5 minutes of yesterday's home game against Ampthill typified just how unlucky Coventry Rugby has been pretty much all season as far as injuries are concerned.

In just the second minute of the game, while defending our line, Billy Nairau was forced to leave the field with what looked like a potentially season-ending ankle injury.

Just a couple of minutes later, Dafydd-Rhys Tiueti was also out of the game, this time it was an injury to the shoulder.

Whilst Billy returned later to the main stand wearing a boot and on crutches, Tiueti failed to reappear and of the two, Tiueti's looked to be the more concerning; he was really struggling. Whilst it's probably inappropriate to pre-judge outcomes, even so I can't see either player playing again this season. Walking past Billy on the way out of the ground, he looked really down - here's wishing both players a speedy recovery.

It was the worst possible of starts for Cov given the number of players already unavailable. There's at least 12 out which means even playing out of position, Cov can't now pick a match day squad of 23 without relying on loans.

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Yesterday, we had five loanees, (Sam Maunder, Mackenzie Graham, Ralph McEachran, Jack Bennet and Logan Trotter) and it's highly likely that this number will increase next week due to the injuries sustained yesterday. I can't recall a recent season where Cov was as severely affected by injuries as this one. However, a small glimmer of hope is that Liam Richman seems close to returning (he was warming up before the match), and Matt K is nearing a final swansong, assuming he is indeed returning to Worcester. Also, Aaron Hinkley only has two more games of his suspension to see out before his return.

How both Kvesic and Hinkley were missed yesterday.

Four players, Daniel Okeke (who has played very little this season), Jake Henry, Jevaughn Warren and Will Lane didn't feature at all yesterday, although both Lane and Okeke were out before the game - whether the four are injured, out of sorts or just out of favour is unclear, but hopefully there are other options in some areas if needed.

What this does show, and shows with some clarity, is that unless you are extremely fortunate over a 9-month season, you can't really expect to produce a sustained push for the top with such a relatively small squad of just 33.

And to prove the point, Ealing Trailfinders list 49 players in their 2024/25player list and whilst some of them are out on loan, I believe most are available for recall should they be required.

In the past, I've reasoned (perhaps incorrectly as it happens) that professional sides like Coventry should be regularly beating the likes of Ampthill, a semi-pro club with a much smaller budget. But the reality is that Ampthill have a bigger squad (36 based on the number of players named in the squad list on their official website) and in addition have access to a number, a substantial number at that, of Saracens youngsters who are full-time and potentially Prem players in the making.

Faced with this, especially when options are so reduced by injuries, the cracks are going to be exposed from time to time.

Which was very much the case yesterday.

Yes, Coventry's performance against Ampthill, particularly in the second half, was poor but it's a game that really shouldn't be taken in isolation. There are a number of factors that have led to where the club currently finds itself and as has been said elsewhere, this had been coming for some weeks, if not months. Other than the opening two games of the season against Scottish (a) and Bedford (h), it's hard to think of many (if any) Coventry performances in the Championship that have been convincing...the previous wins against the bottom three sides in the league bear witness to that.

Cov's performances in the Premiership Cup, at least those before Christmas, showed what Cov could produce with a near fully availably squad of players, but once injuries, player fatigue and the winter weather began to kick in, the writing was very much on the wall even back in early December when we topped the table and before we came a cropper down at Pirates.

Coventry's formal application for the Premiership in December, combined with some lacklustre performances from Ealing at the beginning of the season, likely increased supporters' belief that Coventry would be contenders for the Championship this season with a potential play-off against the bottom Premiership team for promotion into the Premiership. This became national sporting news for a short while as Coventry sat atop of the Championship, ahead of Ealing, albeit on the back of some already less than convincing displays despite picking up the wins (Caldy 15-17, Ampthill 21-27, Hartpury 14-13).

It was hard not to get carried away by the mood of optimism is generated.

In my opinion, Coventry Rugby didn't effectively manage supporters' expectations during that period. Although senior figures in the club have since stated that they anticipated the RFU's rejection of their Premiership bid and viewed it as a chance to identify areas for improvement before reapplying in the future, at the time of the bid, it seemed to be a sincere effort to compete for the Championship for the rest of the season and to seriously contend in the playoffs if Cov won the league in May.

Because of this, I believe the further decline in performances on the pitch has resulted in some frustrations amongst supporters which might otherwise have been avoided. Perhaps it would have made more sense to make clear from the onset that the bid was purely an 'academic' and speculative exercise to build up a picture of what needed to be done before a serious bid for Prem status was launched. The sizes of both the budget and playing squad meant it just wasn't achievable this year and no one was really expecting Cov to do anything other than continue to show progress on (and off) the pitch this season. Perhaps it needed saying clearly before the bid went in.

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So, after just three minutes of play yesterday, Cov was forced into using two from the bench, including Eliot Salt in the front row. With only one other prop available, when Salt in turn was injured in the 60th minute, uncontested scrums came into play.

Following Billy N's substitution, one of the Ampthill forwards was yellow-carded. Reading Paul Smith's report on the club's website, it would appear that the foul play that led to the yellow was the cause of Billy's injury. That said, given this might have affected the outcome of the game and led to possible long-term rehabilitation for the Cov prop, should Cov cite the offending player and a more appropriate punishment be handed out by the RFU? (Also, had Logan Trotter stayed down when he was taken out in the air, the yellow card awarded might well have been a red???).

In effect, we were left with just 6 replacements for the whole of the game and given the relative inexperience on the bench, it was always going to be an uphill struggle, especially in the second half against a side including so many Saracen loanees (6 in all?).

That Coventry didn't play well in the second half is an understatement. Having gone into the break with a 26-14 lead, we were fairly well placed. We'd seen enough in the opening 40 minutes to know that Cov had enough pace in the backs to cause Ampthill problems defensively and we looked to have tightened things up defensively a little from the previous couple of weeks.

However, Cov spent no more than a couple of minutes, if that, of the entire final 40 in the Ampthill's half. the visitors looked fired up from the restart and quickly pulled a try back. From thereon in, their forwards took control of the game, ensuring all the play was in our half and much of it in our 22. They carried well and the scrum half, another Bracken, box kicked effectively and the chasers gave our receivers little times to do anything with the ball.

And when Ampthill threw the ball wide, invariably in the final 30 minutes they found space to run into and perhaps should have made better use of their wide men than they did. What little ball we had we lost all too easily, either in collisions or fumbles, of which there were far too many. We were also second best the breakdown, although we did win some key ball in this area.

That said, although there will be criticism of Cov's defence, I thought that at times, despite the injuries and reshuffling that resulted, Cov showed a lot of spirit, particularly when under the severest of pressure from the Ampthill forwards - as a result we were in the game for a lot longer than we might have been had Ampthill been more clinical.

However, we were toothless in attack after the break and once Ampthill put the screws on, at no point did it feel like we were going to add to our half time score. Ampthill's try, in the final play of the game, was all too predictable really and was again the result of some poor defence as Ampthill looked to spread the ball out wide.

Sadly for Logan Trotter, it was he who missed the final tackle that enabled the Ampthill winger to dot down for the win - up until then, he'd had a decent game, scoring twice and providing Opoku with an assist for his try.

The week ahead won't be an easy one for the coaches or players. I imagine there are going to have to be one or two new faces down at the BPA in training as the club is forced into bringing in cover for yet more injuries. Hopefully, although Eliot Salt limped off yesterday, he'll be fit for the clash against Hartpury, otherwise there'll be a real crisis in the front row with only Trinder and Warren fit. With Nairau, Johnson and Salt all potentially missing next week, we're potentially going to have to rely on yet more loanees for a few weeks.

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Whilst the afternoon's rugby might have left rather a sour taste in the mouth, the new food options down at the BPA certainly didn't. The absence of the Food Heroes monopoly seems to have opened up an opportunity for other outlets; a Greek option for the previous couple of weeks became a Mexican yesterday and I have to say I was really impressed.

Josh, hungry after a morning's football coaching, made a beeline for the tacos and after having watched him devour three tacos (beef + guacamole and red cabbage) together with a side of taco chips, I gave in to temptation and had the tacos too.

I might again, if they're still around...

So good were they that Josh demanded a rescoring of Cov's food provision as part of the 'Championship Food Watch 2024/25'.

Having looked closely at the rule book, I couldn't find any objections and so Coventry's score rises from the disappointing 7 it received whilst part of Food Heroes, to a far healthier (in all respects) 8 under the new independent outlets. The remarking now takes it above Leicester into a respectable fourth place, with only Donny (how will the cow pie fare?) and Ealing to come.

It might have scored even higher but the cost of £15 for the tacos, taco chips and a soft drink, whilst reasonable, was, Josh felt, a little on the steep side for a Saturday afternoon out watching the rugby.

Apologies to Cornish again, it was just a trip to far this year.

1. Chinnor - 9

2. Caldy - 9

3. Cambridge - 8.5

4. Coventry - 8

5. Leicester - 7.5

6. Nottingham - 6

7. Ampthill - 5.5

8. London Scottish - 5

9. Bedford 4.5

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Morale can't be great at the moment on the back of the last two or three games and Hartpury isn't the place you want to go if you're searching for a bit of form. The Gloucestershire side have had some solid results of late so Cov will need to regroup quickly - they'll have been a few phone calls to the likes of Exeter, Bath, Edinburgh and Sale already I imagine to see if they can do a bit of wheeling and dealing on the loanee front.

Other than that, it's back to school days for the coaches and players - here's hoping yesterday was one lesson that was well and truly learned...

Don't seem to be no break in the line

Don't seem to be no break boys

They ruined my vision screwed up my eyes

I'll tell you what I'm gonna do boys

I'm going back to schooldays

I'm going back to schooldays

I'm going back to schooldays to put them right

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The mighty Graham Parker - had he watched the game yesterday he might have wanted to tear the playhouse down...

Oh Lord, don't ask me questions...