By Paul Smith 
In-form Coventry Rugby extended their recent winning run to seven games with the 54-19 defeat of Bedford Blues at the Butts Park Arena last Saturday.
This superb run of form has been given further context by the revelation that it is the longest unbeaten sequence recorded by any of the Championship’s 11 clubs this season.
Cov’s last defeat – which in both time and playing style seems a lifetime ago – came at Caldy on February 3rd at which point they held the moderate record of six wins and five defeats after 11 rounds of action.
Since then Cov have logged seven consecutive bonus point successes and as a result know they will definitely improve on last year’s third-place finish if they beat London Scottish next Friday and also overcome Cornish Pirates in a tough finishing test in Penzance eight days later.
Ealing are currently four points clear of Alex Rae’s team at the head of affairs and with a game in hand the title is theirs to lose. However, recent setbacks against Ampthill and at the BPA suggest all is not yet lost for a Cov side who have been superbly supported by home crowds averaging over 3,000.
The turnaround that followed the Caldy defeat has been made all-the-more impressive by the presence of Ealing plus top-four-chasing Doncaster and Bedford Blues being numbered among Cov’s victims.
In addition their last four wins – at Hartpury and Nottingham and at home to Cambridge and Bedford – have seen 217 points and the small matter of 33 tries scored.
On an individual level, winger Jimmy Martin’s dazzling 55-metre finish against Bedford took him clear of the chasing pack on 14 league tries for the current campaign while his fellow winger Ryan Hutler moved within striking distance of the summit on 12 league scores with a memorable hat-trick.
Skipper Jordon Poole and outstanding centre Will Wand both also have individual try-counts in double figures for the season including cup games.
Cov also have the Championship’s top points scorer in fly half Pat Pellegrini whose own try against the Blues was equally memorable, while a seven-from-eight return from the kicking tee meant he logged 19 points against Cov’s longstanding East Midlands rivals for a second time this season.
On a day when many of the Cov line-up put in outstanding displays, Pellegrini, Hutler and lock Obi Nkwocha were selected for the Championship team-of-the-week.
Tickets for Coventry’s next Championship home game against London Scottish on Friday May 3rd are available from: https://www.coventryrugby.co.uk/tickets/matchday-tickets/
