Luctonians banking on Link as he cashes in on maul

JOINT National Two West top try scorer Ben Link credits his side’s formidable pack for his free scoring form.

Link, 23, had crossed the whitewash 10 times coming into this weekend and has been the beneficiary of a devastating Luctonians driving maul.

He said: “I’m pretty happy with my rugby as I’m playing well. Most of my tries have come off the back of mauls but I’ve been in the right position to score. Our maul has been pretty good and once we do get it right it does takes some stopping, so when we’re five metres out it provides a real weapon for us.”

The hooker was thrilled to have scored a hat-trick in last month’s 33-3 victory away to Exeter University and hopes to add to his tally.

He said: “Every time you score it feels good but I don’t score a hat-trick very often especially as someone who plays in the front row, so it was such a good feeling.

“I haven’t scored in the last couple of games but hopefully there’ll be a few more mauls and we’ll play a bit more direct. The backs will see less ball, so hopefully I’ll get a few more just after Christmas in the wet months.”

Luctonians came into the weekend in seventh and after playing in National Two North in recent years, Link has been impressed by the standard of the league this season.

He said: “We played Hinckley last weekend and pushed them all the way for 80 minutes and they said at the end that it was one of the most physical games they’d played this season. All the boys are buying into what we’re doing, 1-20 we’re working hard for each other.

“This league is something different, we played in the North last year and there was a fair bit of travelling. It’s slightly closer with a few teams in and around Bristol. The standard is about the same. The packs we’ve come up against have been just as strong as last season.”