CS Stags 37 Worthing Raiders 15
Saturday 31st October 2026
Match report and photos by Colin Coulson
Game six of the campaign saw Raiders travel to London to play C.S. Stags, both sides have had slow starts to the season and find themselves at the wrong end of the table.
Ed Hartley and Jake Howe both picked-up injuries the previous week and were replaced by Tom Sanderson and Diogo Pina. Max Ravaudet returned to the bench as cover for the front row.
Stags kicked off and were immediately on the attack after Raiders failed to secure the ball. Within three minutes the hosts had scored an unconverted try, and Raiders hadn’t had a touch of the ball. Diogo Pina had to be replaced after five minutes by Tom Sanderson, due to injury.
Undeterred, Raiders got on the front foot when the forwards won a penalty at a Stags’ scrum. The hosts gave away another penalty and Tom Meyer kicked to touch five metres from the try line. The ensuing line out produced a maul that was able to drive over the goal line for skipper, Elliott Luke to touch down. Tom Sanderson hit the post with the conversion. Thus, after fourteen minutes the score was level at 5-5.
The game was evenly balanced over the next fifteen minutes, although it was the visitors who were doing most of the attacking. The Raiders’ forwards were going well, as demonstrated by a catch and drive that took the opposition back some twenty metres.
Raiders had plenty of territory and possession but weren’t able to make it count until the thirtieth minute when a catch and drive produced a try for Leo Ravaudet. With the conversion sliding narrowly passed the posts, the visitors now had a 5-10 lead.
With Raiders attacking inside Stags’ twenty-two, they were penalised for a not straight throw in at the line out, Stags used the ball to go seventy metres to score a converted try, 12-10.
Sadly, for Raiders the hosts scored again within moments which gave them a seven-point- lead as the half came to a close.
Half time score: CS Stags 17 Worthing Raiders 10
Raiders restarted the game after the break but having given away two early penalties the hosts scored an unconverted try to extend their lead to 22-10.
The visitors built up a head of steam and threatened the Stags’ line but couldn’t break through for a score. The coaches made changes, for tactical reasons and injuries.
A fine box kick by Stan Keats went to touch five metres from the host’s try line. This looked like a real chance to close the gap but again they were unable to break down Stags’ defence.
When Raiders gave away a penalty in front of their own post the hosts chose to kick the penalty and extend their lead to 25-10.
Stags gave away a couple of penalties in quick succession, this allowed Raiders to have a lineout a short distance from their try line. A catch and drive was instigated and Leo Ravaudet touched down for his second try of the afternoon. The conversion was unsuccessful as the gap closed to 25-15.
Raiders looked good at times but too often let themselves down with basic errors and so it was at the restart from Leo Ravaudet’s try , when they failed to catch the ball and the hosts took full advantage of the situation and scored a converted try to stretch their lead to 32-15, with less than ten minutes to play.
The visitors had the chance to close the gap when they had a multi-phase attack within inches of the line but pressurise the defence as they did they were unable to produce the score they needed.
As happened earlier in this game the home side, having soaked up the pressure then broke out and scored another try which was unconverted, bringing the score to 37-15.
With little time left Raiders’ final efforts came to nothing and the game came to a close with Stags comfortable winners.
Full-time score: CS Stags 37 Worthing Raiders 15
A very disappointing result as Raiders had plenty of quality possession in attacking areas of the pitch, which should have led to more tries. Unfortunately, they were guilty of missing tackles and making too many unforced errors, which eventually lost them the game.
Team:
Impact Players:
Scorers:
T: Luke, L. Ravaudet (2)
