Hornets head coach Jon Richardson insists it is “hugely important” his side build on their opening day triumph of the season when they take on Okehampton this Saturday.
Hornets came out 39-24 winners against Ivybridge at The Nest in their first South West Premier match in three years.
The win gave the newly promoted side a bonus point having scored more than four tries with Bailey Jackson scoring twice alongside further efforts from Danny Bailey, Ozzy James and Hayden Tuttiett.
They will now play their first away match of the season on Saturday and Richardson will ensure his side will be ready as they look to continue their good start to the campaign.
“We can’t wait to get back on the road. We always have a fun day when we go away and we’ve been down to Okehampton before and it’s a nice clubhouse, a lovely place to go out and play so we are looking forward to it,” he said.
“We don’t assume anything on past performances against teams. It’s been a long time off, most teams have changed considerably, we will just go there, concentrate on the way we play and adapt that within the game. If it’s not working and hopefully that’s enough to get us another result.
“It’s hugely important to keep the winning mentality and try to keep the form. There’s no reason for it to go anywhere. Hopefully we can take it to Devon and we will see what happens.”
It has been a long time coming for Hornets after they secured promotion in 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic saw the 2020-21 campaign wiped out.
However, after a 16-month wait, the RFU sent out the green light for clubs to return to action, and fixtures were sent out to teams up and down the land ahead of the season restart in September.
And Richardson couldn’t hide his delight at playing once again, adding: “It was amazing to get the matchday experience going again. Pre-seasons were great but they are not the same as a normal matchday.
“It’s just great to see supporters coming in, the club was packed, very nervous after such a long time away. It was really good and the boys matched it with a fantastic performance.
“It was hard work, Ivybridge are a good established side in that league and we were under no illusions of how tough it was going to be and it was. It certainly was a tough game. We had to fight hard for everything.
“But the first 40 minutes I thought we were excellent going 20-0 up and understandably late on we ran out of steam a little bit, but that match fitness will come in time. I was delighted with the way the lads went about it really in their first game.”
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