DIRECTOR of Rugby David Irish was left frustrated with his ‘frail’ Malvern side as they suffered a heavy 41-18 defeat to Southam in the Midlands Two West (South) on Saturday.
On their first ever visit to Southam, Malvern started brightly as they burst into the home 22, but after a scrum, a poor pass allowed the Warwickshire side to counter and drive upfield through a paper-thin defence to open the scoring.
Two more tries followed in quick succession as the visitors tried to run the ball from defence, but gave away penalties and scrums, leaving Southam to cut through Malvern’s defence to open up a 19-0 advantage.
The visitors replied in spirited fashion as Adam Dixon’s break brought about a penalty which Ben King scored, but following more mistakes, Southam countered and once again went through the Malvern defence like a knife through butter for their bonus point try.
After the hosts added another penalty to stretch the lead to 29-3, Malvern hit back when Ieuan Mustow ran in from 40 metres before the interval.
Malvern were still suffering from an injury crisis which had left eleven players unavailable for the game, contributing to the leaky defence.
But after some stern words at half-time, they came out with intent and scored their second try when Alex Stockwell dived over in the corner following a five metre line out.
Southam denied what would have been a stunning comeback when their winger chased down a kick to ground for a try.
And despite Mustow crossing the whitewash for his second try of the afternoon, the hosts wrapped up the emphatic display when a Southam player intercepted a misjudged pass and ran in from 60 metres to score.
Irish said: “We’ve built our game around a solid defence but with all the injuries having forced so many changes, we looked very frail when attacked in midfield.
“We also made so many basic errors which gifted Southam several tries. Our pack matched them in the set piece and our loose play was good, so it wasn’t all a disaster. But we need to get a couple of wins under our belts.
“Hopefully some of the injured players will be available next week.”
The Spring Lane side host Barkers Butts this Saturday (kick-off 3pm).