Nicky Little says it’s up to Canterbury rugby Club’s players to respond in the right way to their first defeat of the National 2 South season.

After starting the campaign and Little’s tenure as head coach with three straight wins, the city club head to struggling Bury St Edmunds this weekend looking to bounce back after a late defeat at home to Southend at the Marine Travel Ground on Saturday.

Canterbury allowed a 10-point lead to slip to a 29-25 defeat in the final 10 minutes at Merton Lane – conceding more points in one fixture than they had in their previous games combined.

Despite the frustrating nature of the defeat, Little said: “It was our first loss and was not a bad one. We had enough line breaks and did enough to have scored plenty more tries.

“We are playing a high-risk, high-reward game at the moment. The thing that cost us was 32 turnovers.

“We had all that and were only four points away - we are going all right. Imagine what we can do if the boys don’t turn it over at all.”

Little added: “They won’t like to hear it but the boys need to man up and grow up a bit.
“This was the first time we’d played a proper man’s team and, embarrassingly, the boys were surprised by it after their first three games.“ Hopefully, this result will bring them down a peg or two.

“The worst thing that could have happened was if we’d gone on and won it in the last minute, everyone would have thought things were hunky-dory when they’re not.

“The boys need to get their heads down and work. It’s not anything which can be coached, it’s down to individuals to cut out the mistakes.”