JACOB Atkins paid tribute to Redingensians Rams after the London Irish loanee inspired his side to a dramatic 25-21 National Two South success against Bury St Edmunds on Saturday, writes Richard Ashton.

The 19-year-old fly half managed the game impressively as his 15 points gave the home side a 25-7 lead early in the second half, and while Bury hit back strongly, they could not overturn the deficit.

Former Forest School student Atkins was at the heart of the action and told the Chronicle his game is developing playing for the Old Bath Road club.

He admitted: “I’m loving it here. The club is just round the corner from where I live and I’m really grateful for the opportunity to play at a loan club where I’m welcomed so much by the fans and the players.

“There are some clubs where it’s hard for players coming in and out of the squad, but the boys are amazing here and are some of the best mates I’ve got.

“From when I started here they’ve been fantastic and it’s some of the most enjoyable rugby I’ve played.”

He continued: “Playing here is really benefitting me. It’s teaching me how to manage games and deal with the pressure, but there’s also the stuff where it doesn’t matter what level you’re playing – you’ve got to make your tackles, land your kicks, play for territory.

“The physicality (has also been a learning curve) as it’s my first season in adult rugby and it was a bit of a shock to the system early on – I’d have a really sore body on Sunday but it’s better now physically and mentally.”

Rams dominated from the outset against Bury, but some heroic defending from the visitors ensured it was only in the 13th minute that full back Olly Foxley crossed for Redingensians’ first score. Atkins converted to make it 7-0.

He added a penalty before Rams were rocked by a serious knee injury to prop Antony Marris, but Atkins then showed an impressive turn of foot to race away from 80 metres out after gathering an interception. He shanked the conversion attempt, but added a penalty to put his side 18-0 up at the break.

St Edmunds began the second half strongly and eventually breached an impressive Rams’ defence when No.8 Maku Koroiyadi barged over from close range for a converted score, but a beautiful Atkins chip was collected by Foxley to go over for his second try almost immediately after. The conversion was successful and the score 25-7.

Yet the visitors continued to battle and with Redingensians increasingly getting on the wrong side of the referee, they conceded two more converted tries to Louis Whetton and Scott Lyle.

However, Bury could not complete the comeback as some fine defence from Conor Corrigan, who sealed a vital turnover with the final play of the game, helped Rams move up to seventh in the table.

Reflecting on the match, Atkins admitted: “It really was a game of two halves. It was us attacking in the first half and them defending for their lives and then vice-versa in the second half.

“The defence they showed was one of the best I’ve played at this level. They were really physical and there weren’t very many missed tackles. Their system was fantastic – it was very hard to break down.

“We got off to a flyer and it’s always tough to keep that up, but I don’t want to take anything away from them. They’re a team fighting at the bottom and they showed a lot.”

While home supporters’ nerves were frayed late in the game, Atkins revealed he had faith in his teammates to hang on under immense late pressure.

He said: “We really back our defence. We’d say it’s the strongest part of our game. We put a lot of work into it and it was hard, but it was great work from Conor at the end to get the turnover.”

The victory was a fourth in a row for Rams, who have a week off before travelling to Cinderford – one place above them in the table – on Saturday, March 4.

And Atkins is looking for his loan side to continue building momentum, saying: “We started the season a bit slowly and then we had a six-match winning run but let it slip, so we don’t want to do that again. We want to show we’re a team which can compete at the top of this league and not just in mid-table.”