By Paul Smith 
Despite their record remaining intact by the barest of margins through the 78th-minute Liam Richman penalty which finally saw off Caldy’s spirited challenge, Coventry ended the first five-match block of fixtures as the Championship’s only unbeaten side.
Outstanding performances at London Scottish and against Bedford – whose Butts Park Arena hoodoo now stretches to 16 years – began this sequence, and while subsequent wins over Cambridge, Chinnor and latterly Caldy have all had their flaws Cov boss Alex Rae is nonetheless a very happy man.
“There’s always loads to work on,” he says, “But when you’re in a position where you’ve won five games from five it’s not a bad place from which to try and improve things.
“Realistically we were never going to be the finished article this early in the season. We’ve got quite a few new faces this season and these are mainly players who’ve come to us from university and the lower leagues.
“They are young men just starting on their journeys, so we’re learning every day but for sure I’d rather be learning while sat at the top of table looking down than at the bottom, looking up.”
Rae and his coaching team have used 29 of their own squad during these five games plus Bath front-row loanees Jasper Spandler and Mikey Summerfield.
This leaves only the injured Jake Henry and Tommy Mathews – whose return to fitness is imminent – plus hooker Will Biggs, fly half Theo Mannion and youngsters Charlie Whorrod and Will Conduit yet to feature.
Cov fans have quickly taken to a number of the new recruits with pacy full back Charlie Robson who has scored three tries in four games and the robust Daf Tiueti catching the eye among the backs where Oli Morris won Cov’s online poll to be September’s player-of-the-month.
Having landed 23 of his 26 kicks at goal, Australian-born fly half Richman has contributed 49 of Cov’s 164 points and according to his boss has quickly proved an impressive replacement for popular Tongan international Pat Pellegrini who is now plying his trade in Super Rugby.
“Liam’s come in and settled really well,” he says. “He’s quite different in style to Pat in a number of ways but he’s really well put together as a player.
“You can see the value in having a kicker like Liam. Whether he’s touch kicking or goal kicking you just have a load of faith that he’s going to nail every kick. It’s credit to him as he works incredibly hard.”
Cov have fewer new faces among the forwards where flanker Aaron Hinkley’s ferocious tackling has already left its mark on a number of opponents, while prop Matt Johnson made an important contribution to Cov’s second-half comeback at Caldy.
With lock Rhys Anstey a late withdrawal through injury, 19-year-old first-year professional Dan Green became an unlikely hero last Saturday on the Wirral by emerging from the bench at the hour mark to score what became the pivotal try.
Cov’s head coach was thrilled with Green’s contribution and said he displayed great composure in a testing environment.
“Dan wasn’t down to play this week until a bit of illness affected Rhys and gave him an opportunity,” Rae said.
“That’s what rugby’s about – sometimes that chance comes when you least expect it and I thought he came on and did really well for such a young man.
“He’s only 19 and we see loads of loads of potential in Dan. He’s obviously going to be a work in progress, a project, but he’s got some good ingredients, and the way he carried the ball at Caldy was really pleasing.”
Tickets for Cov’s next home game in the cup against Northampton on Saturday November 23rd can be purchased at https://www.coventryrugby.co.uk/tickets/matchday-tickets/
