Captain Tom Sugg said Weston RFC will “definitely” respond from their defeat at Exeter University when they take on Old Redcliffians this Saturday.

Two tires from Joe Burgess, Sugg and JJ Williams saw the Seasiders put up a fight but were untimely defeated 39-33 by the students.

The defeat was their first defeat in five matches after winning all of their matches in October.

And Sugg says all their attention is now on Saturday’s game with the Old Reds.

“We always knew it was going to be tough to take on the top of the league and last weekend was a difficult challenge,” he said.

“We prepared well leading up it, with some key areas of our game continuing to improve week on week, but we also felt we left the field short of a full 80 minute performance.

“We were gutted not to come away with the result, but our focus now moves on to Old Redcliffians who will be another challenging but exciting test for our squad.”

Weston currently sit in fifth place of the table, one position behind Saturday’s challengers, who come to the Recreation Ground with four wins in a row.

Sugg and his side have won all their three matches at home this season and the number eight believes they need to be on top of their game to pick up another good result.

“We’re expecting a very physical game with Old Reds and they look to be a dangerous side this year,” he added.

“The lads will definitely react from the Exeter result, and we’ll be pushing hard this week to get back on top.

“They’ve been a high scoring team this season, so we’ll need to make sure our processes in defence continue to be strong, and we put as much pressure as we can on them to force mistakes.”