IT wasn’t a great weekend for our Reading-based sides with London Irish again falling to a narrow defeat, this time at home to last season’s Aviva Premiership runners-up Wasps.

They battled hard, but just lacked the attacking quality of their visitors, who scored three tries in 11 second-half minutes to turn the game on its head and leave Exiles five points adrift of Worcester, who stunned Leicester Tigers in the shock of the weekend.

It doesn’t get any easier for Irish this Saturday, as they face a tough trip to hostile Kingsholm to take on Gloucester.

Meanwhile, Redingensians Rams lost their six-match winning run with a 31-21 defeat at third-placed Taunton Titans in National Two South.

They’ll certainly have to sharpen their ideas up this Saturday when they host fifth-placed Bury St. Edmunds, who are just one point and one place behind them. It should be a real cracker.

Sadly, my boys Reading were definitely robbed of the spoils at Holme Park where the current Southern Counties North leaders Buckingham remained unbeaten in nine outings scraping home with a stoppage-time converted try.

Both sides attacked well, but the fact we’ve now scored 24 tries and 152 points in our last five games – and lost four of them – means we need to work on defence on the training ground.

We have a week off to up our game before a trip to rock bottom Drifters.

Honour for the town was restored at least a little by Reading Abbey, who benefitted from a refereeing error to snatch victory at Stow-on-the-Wold.

They led by six points when the hosts were given a penalty in front of the posts on the last play, but the ref told Stow they were nine points behind so they kicked the goal for a losing bonus point.

When his error was realised, the home fans weren’t happy – and who can blame them! Abbey also have a week off before hosting Thatcham.

Elsewhere, England rounded off their international year with another victory against Samoa – and well done to Eddie Jones on being named World Rugby’s coach of the year.

A word, too, for Scotland, who hammered Australia by a wide margin no-one could possibly have expected.