Rams return to winning ways with emphatic win in Somerset

After a tepid opening it was the hosts who took the lead as they returned a kick downfield brilliantly with Axel Kalling-Smith making the initial break before fine hands from Ellis Jones freed the returning Drew Humberstone to cross on the left.

Man-of-the-match Kalling-Smith got the second as he showed his combination of pace and power to break past a couple of would-be defenders before touching down, Alex Seers this time on target with the conversion.

Rams then produced a try-of-the-season contender as Henry Bird strode forward before some fabulous inter-play ended with James McRae cutting a beautiful line to touch down to the right of the posts.

Seers’ conversion made it 19-0, but Titans rallied and put their opponents under pressure during the latter stages of the first half.

However, the hosts struck with a sucker-punch as they forced a turnover on their own line, Ollie Cole choosing not to boot the ball out and instead leading to an even better try than the one before.

His break took Rams towards halfway, before Jak Rossiter and Bird showed their pace and composure for the latter to seal the bonus-point.

The conversion was successful to make it 26-0 at the interval, but Taunton came out the blocks faster in the second half and after Cole was sin-binned for an infringement near his line, the visiting maul rumbled over for Alex Rodd to grab their first points.

Rams hit back immediately, though, a sublime Seers pass creating a gaping hole in the Titans’ defence for Connor Stapley to stride over from the 22-metre line.

The hosts’ willingness to attack from deep again paid dividends with their sixth try, the electric Bird returning the kick before replacement Zach Clow made a half-break to free Kalling-Smith for his second.

To their credit, Taunton refused to yield and dragged themselves back into the contest with a quick-fire converted double, centre Nick Mason with a superb individual effort before Charlie Wright touched down at the back of another maul.

Rams, however, gathered themselves and put a further gloss on the scoreline with three late tries. The first came via yet another superb team move from inside their own half, Jones the beneficiary this time in front of clubhouse corner.

Kalling-Smith knocked over the conversion, and he repeated the trick twice more after Ollie Moffitt went over following Rossiter’s searing break, before McRae added the cherry to the top of the proverbial cake with a trademark effort from 40 metres out.