Bournville Forwards Coach Tom Manise believes the side are not far away from turning potential into victories despite going down 68-38 to a powerful Clifton side at Avery Fields.
Apart from a 15 minutes nightmare period either side of half-time when Clifton ran in six of their ten tries, Bourns were competitive and scored six tries themselves to claim a try bonus point against a side who were playing National One rugby last season.
“Straight after half-time we switched off a little bit. Clifton came out firing and looked to off-load and backed themselves and it worked for them. We leaked a lot of points in that 10 minutes which is where the game was lost,” Manise said.
“I don’t think character is lacking in our team. We have got some brave blokes and tons of character and confidence in what they do on the ball and in attack.
“There are just a few little things that need to click into place for the results to come our way. We scored 38 points today and we could have got more but I think the results will come.”
Bourns will complete a demanding opening run of seven matches on their return to National Two West with a trip to Luctonians, who suffered a surprise first defeat of the season at Loughborough Students.
“It’s just a case of keeping positive and keep working on the right things in training,” Manise said.
“The lads critique themselves and sometimes it’s our job as coaches to remind them that they can be a bit more positive. A lot of time there is a silver lining.”
The silver linings against Clifton were a hat-trick for lock Harry Dawson, powerful ball-carrying from Callum Nicholls and Ben Meakin and the return of Chris Idehen from an ankle injury for his first appearance of the season.
“Chris is a high energy guy and sometimes that’s needed especially in the second half when you have tired legs. It was good to see him back,” Manise said.
