No panic... despite crushing defeat by 'superb' Richmond

Winchester 5, Richmond 75

That Winchester were beaten by the better side at Nuns Road last Saturday would be the winning entry in any understatement of the year contest.

They were completely demolished by Richmond's awesome pace and power from first to final whistle. Indeed, so breathtaking had the visitors' display been that many Winchester supporters found perverse pleasure in watching it, suggesting that their team should aspire to such heights. The only comfort Winchester can draw from the experience is that no team outside the National Leagues could have lived with Richmond on the day.

Inside the first 15 minutes, Winchester had conceded four tries and, hard as they fought, there was no way back. It was all so simple from the off for Richmond as steam-roller tactics pressurised the home side into error. Ruck, maul, quick ball, try, all with military precision.

The hosts' one bright moment came when a rare foray into the Richmond half forced a mistake. Hooker Iain Millar pounced on the ball to score his second try in consecutive weeks. After this, normal service was resumed as two more converted tries stretched Richmond's half-time lead to 54-5. They got the luck of the bounce on a couple of occasions, but in no way were they flattered by the scoreline.

Scrum-half Scott Turner typified Winchester's never-say-die spirit, but was nearly always bottled up by Richmond's superb back row. And it was the visitors' scrum half, Dan Taberner, who showed Turner how it should be done with a blindside break from a scrum on halfway.

Taberner raced away to score on his own, followed by six more Richmond tries scored with such clinical efficiency that Winchester could only admire and hopefully learn from their chastening afternoon. Full back Ben Leigh grabbed a hat trick of tries as the Richmond pack ate up the yards, making space for easy scores.

Centre Chris Whiteley bagged a first-half hat-trick and finished with four in all. Leigh's sin-binning for over-zealous play made no difference; so mesmeric was the visitors' play it seemed they could win with ten men. And that is only just an exaggeration. Ex-Northampton wing Harvey Thorneycroft was expected to be the dangerman, but it was Leigh and Whiteley who did the most damage to home pride.

Winchester were never at the races, rare breaks from West and Ashwin being quickly bottled up. Richmond's man-mountain of a lock, Ade Bamford, gave Hayes and Ettinger a torrid time at the lineout. Three figures appeared on the cards but the home side stuck manfully to their task.

The final try tally against was 13 which, as head coach, Mike Marchant, stressed (on recovering from shell-shock), was not the whole story.

"Richmond are superb, the most well-drilled side we've ever met," he said.

"The scoreline may suggest we gave up, but we didn't. I was proud, once more, of the guts and determination we showed. If we keep our focus we'll reap the rewards."

Team: Kinsey, West, Ashwin, Hooper, Castle (Parkinson 60), Destefano, Turner, I. Moreton, Millar, S. Moreton, Hayes, Ettinger, Browning, Knight (B. Moreton 75), Pervin (Foggarty 70).

Winchester hope to get back on track at Andover in the 2nd round of the Powergen Intermediate Cup tomorrow (18th, 3pm).

There's no panic, yet.