Tuilagi touches down twice as Blues beat Nottingham

It wasn’t all plain sailing for the visitors as the first half saw their opponents with a high percentages of possession and territory, but they were constantly thwarted by a resolute Bedford defence who seem to be tightening up at the driving maul.

A cynical ruck infringement saw James Bennett sent to the sin-bin, and Nottingham scored instantly through Michael Green.

That was all they could muster with the man advantage and Bedford eventually got to work, grinding down their opposition and landing some knockout blows.

The visitors had total scrum dominance throughout and from one of those penalties, Blues came off the lineout with great intent to send Louis James over for a 7-7 half-time score.

In the second half, it was one-way traffic from Mike Rayer’s men as Fred Tuilagi found his way to the line twice, first off another dominant set piece and then again from a 5m tap and go penalty.

The penalties were mounting and Nottingham eventually lost Arthur Allen to the sin bin for the accumulation of ill-discipline.

Elior Champ Rugby’s most in-form marksman, Dean Adamson – who has scored more against Nottingham than any other opposition – took advantage with an outrageous acrobatic diving effort.

Nottingham caused problems with the restart and found their way to the line almost immediately through David Williams.

That had taken Bedford’s bonus point away, but they continued about their business to regather it, Alex Day dinking a fine grubber through for Adamson to get his second with another athletic dive and seal a terrific victory.

Assistant coach Reece Marshall said: “It’s always a tough place to go on a Friday night and while there were errors in the first half, we tidied it up and fought to the victory.

“We were frustrated in the first half but the boys looked really relaxed in the changing room, and that’s a credit to them because they were really confident they could execute the plan in the second half. Incredible effort from them.”

Double try scorer Tuilagi added: “We knew we’d have to get stuck in as forwards and it was because of that hard work in the first half that the game opened up in the second.

“We spoke about sticking to the basics and we showed incredible fight to earn the win.”

» Bedford Blues Women rose to the top of the Championship Midlands Two table thanks to a 60-12 success over Lincoln Ladies at Goldington Road on Sunday.

It was a real team effort, with the forwards’ hard work and the backs’ finishing combining to produce an impressive attacking display.

Across the pitch, the commitment and support for one another gave Blues plenty to celebrate, as Katharine Simpson, Claire Cranfield and Jodie Mallard all crossed twice, with Lauren Freeman, Elin Crabb and Alivia Usher-Harris also getting on the scoresheet.

Lucy Middleton delivered with the boot, landing seven of her ten kicks, including a penalty, as Jack Hood made their home debut, while Emily Winstone celebrated her 50th cap, becoming only the third player to reach this milestone.