DUDLEY Kingswinford must improve their defensive game, says director of rugby Neil Shillingford.

DK’s defence has been put under the spotlight after they lost 36 - 30 in a 10-try thriller at home to Bournville last Saturday.

Despite earning a second bonus point late on, it was the number of points shipped by the Heathbrook outfit that has caught the attention of Shillingford following successive losses.

He said: “It was disappointing to lose and frustrating that we couldn’t be better defensively because we played our best attacking rugby so far.

“It was the defence that let us down and that will now be an area we will be working on.

“We conceded from first-phase set-piece rugby and that isn’t good enough. Individuals switched off at key moments after we allowed them to be isolated and were punished for that.

“We were forced into a few changes due to injury but that can’t be used as an excuse.

“Saying that, there were a lot of positives to take.

“The way we are capable of hurting teams and scoring points is very encouraging.

“We picked up two more points even though we didn’t win and have to continue to build on what we have already done. “If we can just do a little better defensively then it is clear that we could become very strong.”

DK’s tries came from Pete Knight, two from Luke Greenwood, Danny Hawkins and Keiran Pinches. Pinches stepped up to convert Greenwood’s late try to bag the extra point.

The scores we close at 18-13 to the visitors at half time before Bournville stormed ahead in the second period.

They quickly took the score to 31-13 as the hosts gave themselves a mountain to climb.

Shillingford’s men will travel to Bridgnorth this Saturday looking to return to winning ways after an inconsistent start to the new campaign.

A win would also be their first on the road this season.

Tom Weaver will be missing at the weekend after suffering a calf injury but Stef Shillingford, Matt Squire and Stuart Bratt could all return after missing the Bournville defeat.

Meanwhile, DK’s development squad claimed a 35-10 win at home against Lichfield last Saturday to add to their encouraging start to the season.