Swindon learn from mistakes (From Swindon Advertiser)

Swindon learn from mistakes

6:00am Friday 8th February 2013 in Rugby By Andy Warren

PAST experience means the Swindon squad will be focused solely on rugby when they travel to bottom side Swanage & Wareham tomorrow.

In the same fixture in South West 1 East last season, Swindon made the trip to the south coast in confident mood, buoyed by the prospect of a night out in Bournemouth after picking up what they expected to be a win.

They went on to lose the game, and second row Dave Cox believes the players were focused too much on the evening’s festivities, rather than the job in hand.

“We went down there last season knowing we were going to go out after the match, and I think we were guilty of not concentrating on what we were there to do,” he said.

“The beer certainly didn’t taste as sweet after we lost the game, and we are focussed on winning rugby match tomorrow.

“There are upsets in this league every week, and we need to keep our minds on the job to make sure we’re not on the end of one.”

Swindon College Old Boys host Littlemore tomorrow in the Berks/Bucks & Oxon Premier, and head coach Mark Roshier knows his side will be in for a tough afternoon as they look to continue their push for promotion.

“I have only seen Littlemore play three times, and they are very strong for periods of the game but it will be about us trying to nullify their time on the ball,” he said.

“If they have that time on the ball they are going to break us down, like any team could, and that is what we have been working on at the moment.

“They are strong up front, and we have to make sure we match them, and we have also been working in training on our core skills and passing.

“Nothing really let us down in our last game, but we just need to make some little changes.”

Roshier will be without Mark Williams and Greg O’Brien who are travelling to Las Vegas to watch the IRB Rugby Sevens, and they will be replaced by Joe Gill and Alex Hill.