By Pippa Field

He may have been forced to miss the game through illness, but Rosslyn Park head coach Alex Codling got the perfect tonic in the form of a convincing win over Loughborough Students.

With Park’s eight-match National League One unbeaten run coming to an end last time out to Fylde, Codling would have been keen to help his side back to winning ways against the Students.

But, while forced to hand over the reins to director of rugby Shaun Justice, he did not need to worry about his charges as they recorded a 31-5 win on Friday night.

Tries from Richard Boyle and Adam Bellamy had the hosts 14-0 up at the break, before Hugo Ellis and Jospeh Ajuwa joined the party and Scott Sneddon added his third conversion of the match.

It was Codling’s first time away from the sidelines in over seven years, but while joking he may not need to return now, he added he had been impressed by the manner of his side’s performance.

“The win was massive, I definitely feel a lot better after it,” said Codling. “It’s the first time I have missed a game since taking up coaching seven or eight years ago, but it was just one of those things.

“I was born with just one lung so it means I can pick up infections more easily. I had Shaun take charge and he did a great job.

“He was texting me updates throughout the game, and he took charge of everything, I might not come back next week!

“It was a very good win, we were looking for a positive reaction to the defeat we had the week before and we definitely got that.

“Loughborough had been up near the top of the table all season but we managed to put quite a few points on the board and keep them down to just the one score which was pleasing.

“We had a dominant platform up front and it was a real team effort again.”

Boyle touched down for the game’s opening try on 17 minutes, before Bellamy added a second nine minutes later, with Sneddon converting both.

Rosslyn Park then capitalised on a yellow card for Loughborough’s Harry Rudkin with Ellis adding a converted try on 53 minutes.

And after a brief lull as replacements came on, the home side then rounded off the game with tries for Jack Gash and Ajuwa, and it was the former’s effort that left Codling particularly pleased.

“Jack is on loan to us from London Irish,” explained Codling. “It was his first game since a hamstring injury and he did really well.

“I have known him on the circuit for a long time and he is very good player. We are very grateful to London Irish for letting us have him for the moment.”

SSE, proud sponsor of the National and Divisional Leagues, has £10,000 of SSE Energy Credits available for clubs to win. To find out how go to www.SSERugby.com