Canterbury Rugby Club head coach Andy Pratt says Saturday’s trip to Dings Crusaders will be more important in deciding their National 2 South promotion fate than the games against the other teams in the top-three.

Saturday’s 32-7 win over basement-boys Exmouth was the seventh win in eight games for the city club and they now have a healthy advantage in the race for second-spot – and the sole promotion play-off place – and are 12 points off top-spot with a game in hand.

Pratt said: “I was generally pleased. We were hoping for a victory and the bonus point and we achieved it. You have to be careful when playing the sides down at the wrong end but we did our jobs well.”

Bristol-based Dings are just three points outside the bottom three and the city club have lost six of their nine games away from Merton Lane this season.

Pratt said: “These are the sort of games we have got to win if we have aspirations of the promotion play-offs.

“I’ve played down there a few times, it’s a difficult place to go at the best of times,
let alone when they’re battling at the wrong end of the table.

“It will definitely be a good barometer of where we are this season and it might be more important that the games against the likes of (leaders) Hartpury and (third-placed) Ampthill.”

George Micans and Tom Sherson should return, although no decision yet has been made on whether Rob Lennox might play, after he returned on leave from Army duties in the South