Bournville Forwards Coach CJ Osazuwa hailed Sam Grimshaw’s “x-factor” after the centre ran in five tries in the 62-26 victory over Dudley Kingswinford at Avery Fields.
The win took Bournville back to the top of Regional One Midlands on superior points difference to Newport, who were beaten at home by Banbury, with Grimshaw topping and tailing the scoring and helping Bourns to recover from going 19-12 at one point having conceded three tries in ten minutes in the first-half.
Grimshaw missed three months of the season after he suffered a knee ligament injury in the opener against Nuneaton but he has been a stand-out performer since he returned to action in the last match of 2025.
“Sam has been vital. We run a lean squad, more by accident than design, and it was really crucial to get him back just before Christmas. He probably came back a couple of weeks earlier than planned so therefore, we didn’t see the best of him for the first couple of weeks.
“But now we are seeing what a really fit Sam Grimshaw looks like. He’s just so powerful, he’s got great speed laterally and he’s got a lot of x-factor about him.
“The work-on for him and for us as coaches moving forwards is not always having to rely on the x-factor. If we can get him balancing that basic, stable game with that bit of explosiveness that’s the next development for him.
“But he was great value today and five tries doesn’t flatter him.”
Grimshaw scored three of his tries in a one-sided second-half in which Bournville turned a slender 24-19 lead at the break into an emphatic win. Although DK, who have won only once, briefly gave Bourns a fright, Osazuwa said he was frustrated rather than worried during that period.
“We spent this week talking about what we do best on both sides of the ball. I can only think of one occasion this season when our attack hasn’t really purred,” he said.
“The attack was never really a concern. It was just making sure that we got our basics right. For 60 or 70 minutes our defence was what we were used to but for ten or 15 minutes it was quite sloppy.
“So that’s the big frustration. But you try to be balanced. You get a scoreline like that, you get five points so you have to be happy.
“I have unlimited faith in these boys at this level. I think as a level five team it doesn’t get much better than us.
“We know we are always stronger the last 20 minutes. There hasn’t been one team this season where we haven’t been the stronger team in the last 20 minutes.
“So, I wasn’t twitchy. Frustrated yes. Frustrated that we didn’t always show the best version of ourselves but I was never in doubt that we wouldn’t win this match.”
