Rams coach faces selection dilemma ahead of first game

FORWARDS coach Owen Root warned wife Becky he “might not be home till beyond midnight” before Rams picked their opening National Division 1 matchday squad for tomorrow’s (Saturday) trip to Sedgley Park, kick-off 2.30pm, writes Richard Ashton.

His assessment came on the back of a superb display from the hosts in beating Oxford Harlequins 57-7 last Thursday, Ryan Lomas opening the scoring before doubles from Theo Pett-Ridge and Harris Rutherford helped put Rams 31-0 up at the break, the latter with a trio of conversions.

A pushover scrum saw former Windsor Colt Will Moss claim his first try, the extras added before Andrew Lamb benefited from a sublime Oli Rhoads charge to add an unconverted try.

Quins battled gamely and got on the board through Henry Sayer, but late tries from Tomek Pozniak and Max Marshall finished the job, Rutherford ending with 22 points on the evening.

Following a 38-24 reverse to Aberavon and 47-24 success at Taunton Titans in their previous games, Thursday’s triumph appeared a step in the right direction.

Root said: “There was a lot to be happy with — given the conditions with the rain which came down before we could have seen the game take a different course — but I thought the continuity, the enterprise, the speed it was played at by both sides was very impressive.

“It was a very encouraging end to the pre-season block and one the boys deserve.”

In a summer of change which has seen the likes of record-breaking try-scorer Robbie Stapley, fellow back rows Tom Vooght and James McRae both retire, Fraser Honey and Solodrau Radianirova move to London Scottish, and lock Dan Swain head to Australia for a year travelling and Nile Dacres also depart, it will be a fresh squad which arrives in Manchester next week.

But after a dominant pack display in the first half especially, the forwards coach admitted: “With the new guys coming together we’ve got to assimilate them to what we’re trying to achieve, they’ve done a fantastic job and it was pleasing to see.

“There were some elements we’d worked on just a couple of days before and to see those coming through was particularly pleasing to see. They’ve been ‘all ears’, fantastic to work with and it’s so positive to see them get some rewards.

“There was great physicality and pressure is key in rugby — if you exert it on the opposition, you can see what comes from it.

“Danny (Batty’s) defence will do that when they can, great endeavour, great line-speed but also the technique we’ve been focusing on — which was exemplary.”

Rams have enjoyed a tremendous start to the season in recent years under the leadership of former S&C coach Joe Southwell, who stepped down at the end of last summer after 10 years, and Root joked he was glad he is now in the coaching corner as he relished the new arrivals.

He stated: “I’ve enjoyed it more than the players under Phil (Hoy, the new S&C coach), but for us as coaches, having all the new faces come in it’s been genuinely fantastic.

“And as much as I joke about the S&C I think that bonded them, the hard yards have brought them together and we’ve signed some superb rugby players but also some great men.

“They’ve been a pleasure to work with — they’ve brought a tremendous energy and intensity to training with the goal of pushing things forward and we’ll see how it goes at Sedgley.”

With all that being said, a matchday 20 for the trip to Manchester will be decided on during the week and former first-team skipper Root was under no illusions how difficult it will be to select.

He ended: “I’ll have to tell my wife I won’t be home before midnight. But these are great problems to have — we’d always want it that way.

“A lot of guys have put their hat in during the past two weeks, and there are guys who played against Taunton who know they’re not certain of the shirt — they were up here watching some very good performances and there will be some incredibly disappointed guys next week.

“Whatever we pick first game, National 1 is an incredibly attritional league and to every player in the squad, their time will come, and they need to be ready for when that happens — but I know they will be from what I’ve seen so far.”