Final defeat should spur us on - coach
ALEX Rae doesn’t want Coventry’s Championship Cup final appearance to be a ‘oneoff’ after suffering defeat to Ealing Trailfinders.
Cov shipped 120 points in their two league encounters with the league winners but were edging a tight affair at Vallis Way until Matt Gordon scored with 15 minutes remaining to edge Ealing ahead and ultimately win 19-13.
“I am always going to be disappointed, but the effort, the levels of commitment were always there,” said interim head coach Raw. “We don’t want this to be a one off, it gives our young players something to strive for and achieve. We spoke about making sure we’re on the right side of it next time. We don’t want this to be a one-off. We want to build now.”
The Blue and Whites’ league season ended two months ago with a win away at Richmond that saw a tumultuous season, which saw director of rugby Rowland Winter exit in January, in eighth place in the 11-team league.
But the end-of-season Championship Cup would provide a remarkable end-ofseason journey as Cov overcame both Ampthill and Doncaster Knights over two legs before winning the semifinal away at Jersey Reds.
Ultimately they fell just short of a first knock-out trophy win since 1974 but Rae could reflect on a remarkable achievement.
“If you’d have asked most people eight weeks ago if they would be watching Coventry in a final, they probably would’ve doubted us,” he said. “I am really proud of the effort that was put in, but unfortunately it just wasn’t to be on the day.”
Tonny Fenner, in his final game of pro rugby, kicked eight points while veteran forwards Ryan Burrows and Phil Boulton also signed off their careers on Saturday afternoon.
“Buzz has been a fantastic servant in this league and for Coventry and it’s hard to replace players like Ryan Burrows,” said Rae. “He will be a huge miss. Phil Boulton, who was a teammate of mine, and I’ve also coached now. Just real stalwarts. There’s other boys who haven’t been mentioned who probably will be going on to other things. It’s a tough part of the business, they’ve been such a good group this last eight weeks to coach.”