The second of those losses came just last Saturday to local-ish rivals Redruth. The first half was a tense affair, that Exeter more than deserved to take a comfortable lead in. Tries from Ronan Kelly and Tom Roberts assured this would be the case. However, a late maul score put the hosts on the board in the final play.

Things exploded in the 2nd half as both sides looked to capitalize early on. It was Redruth who made the faster start scoring 3 tries in the opening 25mins, compared to just a solitary Exeter penalty. The boys kept fighting to the end though, with Rob Gordon getting a late try to set up a tense finish. Despite getting from their own 22 to the other EURFC couldn’t complete the comeback in time, coming away with just 1 point and a narrow defeat.

The boys will pick themselves up and go again this week though as Hinckley is another strong test.

TOMORROWS OPPONENTS
Formed all the way back in 1893, Hinckley RFC started off by bouncing around the different grounds in the Leicester area until finally settling at Coventry Road in 1929, and then upgrading again to Leicester Road in the 1960s.

Going into the 70s and 80s, Hinckley was one of the biggest clubs, regularly playing against the likes of Leicester Tigers, Sale and Northampton. This was until the foundation of the league set up and the lack of leadership in the club led to 3 straight relegations.

Things picked up again in the 90s though as they were promoted once again to the National Leagues, eventually settling in National League 2 in the early 2010s.

Last season saw Hinckley struggle at this level for the first time in a while, finishing 13th in National League 2 South. However, a stark improvement this year has seen them climb at the table again, currently residing just 5 points, and 1 position, ahead of EURFC coming into the 2nd half of the season.

TEAM NEWS
There are very few changes for Exeter coming into this week, with head coach Rich Hodges content with what he saw from the performance last week. The only changes in the pack are both in the back row. Josh Thorne and Ben Grubb both drop out to be replaced by Rob Gordon, try scorer off the bench last week, and Conor Manzi.

Similarly, there is just one change in the backline as we see the impressive Toby Ferguson make his first start in National League 2, in the place of the injured Zack Wimbush.

On the bench, there is a return for Elliot Young after he had a spell away training with Scotland U20s during their 6 Nations campaign.