LAUNCESTON joint head coach Ian Goldsmith had no complaints with his side’s performance despite slipping to a 19-8 defeat on the opening day to promoted Topsham on Saturday in Regional One South West.

The Devonians, who are based just outside of Exeter, are much-fancied to do well and showed exactly why at Polson Bridge. Indeed, on another day, they could easily have racked up a far bigger score against a home side who were dogged and organised throughout.

Goldsmith knows there are bits to work on, but admitted they came up against an impressive outfit.

He said: “It started off as a really good game of rugby with both teams looking decent in possession, but they’re a really good team with pace and power in their forwards. They keep the ball alive really well, as well as I’ve seen any team do at this level in a long while.

“Unfortunately, the second half was very stop-start which probably halted their momentum a bit, but it ruined the game a bit for the crowd. It wasn’t the referee’s fault, it was just one of those games in the end, as shown by the fact there was no score in the second half. But they’re a really good team who’ll have a really good season, and will score plenty of tries against certain sides.”

Launceston ended last season with eight straight defeats, not helped by injuries and unavailabilities, but Goldsmith feels their work on the training field over the summer was there to see.

He said: “There were several aspects of our play which were really good. We were relentless, particularly in defence and our scramble defence was wonderful. Our ball retention was also good, when we had it, and we also looked a really fit team, because if we weren’t the scoreline could have been really embarrassing.

“Tom (Sandercock) and James (Tucker) managed the game well, our back three (Ollie Bebbington, Billy Martin and Ben Bryant) looked good and choosing the five-back rowers worked in that sort of game as we had to defend so well.

“We certainly need to improve our lineout, but because we’ve got a whole new lineout unit with a new thrower, a new caller and new jumpers, it’s going to take time.

“The conditions didn’t help either and they were good at defending them, which made it tough. In the scrums we did okay, but they certainly had the edge there.”

Launceston gave debuts to hooker Rory Mead, Ben Hancock, who was voted man-of-the-match despite playing out of position in the second-row, and George Harris, as their new-look side came together.

Goldsmith continued: “Ben was very good, as was Charlie Tummon, and Charlie Short’s impact off the bench with ball in-hand was excellent. But everybody did well really, it was just we came up against a very good team.

“What also didn’t help was losing Cam (Fogden) and George (Harris) in the first half. Cam brings a lot to our attack and losing George meant I also couldn’t rotate the back five like I’d like to have.”

Launceston are back in action on Saturday when they head to Gloucester to tackle Matson.

The hosts were beaten 45-15 at title favourites Brixham on Saturday, but like most teams, are a totally different proposition on home soil.

Amongst their squad are former Premiership props George Porter and Shaun Knight, who will ensure Launceston’s scrum faces one of their toughest test’s of the campaign.

However, Goldsmith feels if they are smart, there are points to be taken back down the M5. He said: “We’re expecting a totally different kind of game to what we faced on Saturday.

“They’ll look to scrum and catch and drive where possible, so we’ve got to do what Topsham were very good at on Saturday and keep the ball alive as much as possible and keep that relentless energy. If we do that then we shouldn’t be far away from a positive result.”