A ton of points conceded as Peterborough RUFC suffer a record defeat

Chris Sykes played well for Borough in their heavy defeat at Nuneaton. Photo David Lowndes.

A heavily depleted, and very young, first XV missing a massive 40 players because of injuries and holidays went down 104-0 at promotion-chasing big hitters Nuneaton in a Regional 2 Midlands East contest..

The club’s previous record defeat in a competitive game was 74-7 at Sheffield Tigers in 2011.

Remarkably Borough had beaten Nuneaton at Fengate earlier this season, but the city side have now lost every game in 2024 as unavailabilities continue to hurt.

An inconsistency in selection has been a common theme for the leading city club in the last few years.

However Borough director of rugby Shane Manning put on a brave post-match face.

“Nuneaton were very good, but I’d like to focus on the lads who played for us,” Manning said. "If it wasn't for their efforts we might have had to default the game so I'm proud of them for stepping in. It was a victory just to be able to get a side out,

"And there were some bright parts to the game with Ashton Webb having a great debut in a tough situation.

“Also Luke Swindells and Chris Sykes really stood up and lead from the front, while Alec Barradell tried his hardest, making several good runs and a ton of covering tackles.

"We now have four league games left to put some pride into our season.

"And the senior players need to step up and show some gratitude to the lads who played on Saturday.

"The best way to do that is to front up and win these next four games.”

Borough handed seven players their debuts with most of the rest having very limited first XV experience.

Only Skyes, Barradell and Harry Anderson remained from the side that beat Nuneaton in a close contest earlier in the season.

Borough, who have dropped to ninth in a 12-team division, have a break now until March 2 when they host mid-table Oadby.

Their last three games are against teams currently in the bottom half of the table – Olney, Wellingborough and rock-bottom Towcestrians – so they should be able to end their centenary season on a high by climbing up the table.