Director of rugby Zach Webb says Belsize Park have “a very special group” after Saturday’s 17-11 home win over Harrow left the Regent’s Park outfit as the only unbeaten team in the league.
Belsize are new to London Division Two North West, having been promoted last season, but they have won four of their opening five fixtures and drawn the other one, leaving them top of the table.
Hampstead’s perfect start to the campaign was ended by a 21-20 loss to HAC at the weekend – and that allowed BP to leapfrog their local rivals and claim the honour of being the only undefeated team in the division.
They also have the best defensive record, having only conceded 46 points – and their resilience was evident in their latest triumph.
Belsize Park defended their line manfully to make up for their high error count, while they were also clinical at the other end of the field, grabbing two tries.
Centre Jack Marples was the scorer on both occasions, making a 35m break before being set up by Panashe Rushasha, while Jeremy Burton added two conversions and kicked a penalty.
Webb said: “To win a league we sometimes have to win ugly and that was no oil painting. However, I would take the character and honesty displayed by the boys when they were up against it over champagne rugby any day.
“We have a few new faces in this season but we now know we have a very special group here.”
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