Lessons to learn from opening loss

Canterbury head of rugby Andy Pratt admits his side have lessons to learn after being soundly beaten at home by Cinderford in their National 2 South season opener.

The Gloucestershire side came from behind and then pulled away in the second half to claim maximum points with a 39-17 win at the Marine Travel Ground, with four tries coming after the break.

Pratt (pictured) said: “We have got to be honest and show a bit of humility – they were the better team, especially in the second half.

“They are a good side but there are things we need to learn from it and hopefully we will.

“We battled well and managed to get ourselves into a good position at half-time. They managed to find another gear after that, though, but we dropped one.”

Canterbury’s first away game is the short trip to newlypromoted Tonbridge Juddians on Saturday (3pm) and Pratt said: “Every game for us is a trip west but it’s nice to have a local game for a change – a real Kent derby. It’s been a long time since we’ve played them.”

He added: “They have dominated at the level below for a few years and been unlucky not to have come up before now.

“We are wary and full of respect for them. They have a lot of dangerous players all over the field.”

Judds won 50-17 in their National 2 debut at Bury St Edmunds on Saturday and Pratt said: “To come up and score 50 points away from home in your debut in the league is quite something.

“It’s difficult to know what to make of results so early in the season, the real picture doesn’t emerge for some time.

“There are bragging rights at stake for our supporters, players and staff but they’ll be no different to us.”