AN understrength Malvern side showed their strength in depth as they claimed a 39-19 victory at Nuneaton seconds.

Director of rugby Rob Cook was without more than half of his squad due to holidays and other commitments.

With a very strong wind blowing into their faces Malvern knew the first half would be a test of their resilience and game management skills.

Within the first two minutes, Cook, starting at fly-half, put his side under pressure as his pass went straight into the hands of the Nuneaton centre who scored unopposed under the posts for a converted try.

But this was the only mistake Cook made all game as he showed his class in the way he ran the game and gave confident to his teammates who averaged no more than 23 years old.

The pre-season training was put into play with players committing the right numbers to rucks and mauls, always looking for the offload and overlap and appeared to be enjoying their rugby.

A catch and drive from a lineout just inside the Nuneaton 22 resulted in a forwards try.

Free-kicks were taken as scrums and the pack did not take a backward step, while the backs produced some fast-flowing passing.

This resulted in tries for Dan Batty (2), James Wood, Grant Frazier, Glenn Potter, Jon Bywater and Jack Curtis.

Cook said it was a “good start” and described their performance as “solid”, but added: “There is a lot of work still to do and week by week I am expecting performances to improve.”

Malvern face Cleobury Mortimer at Malvern College tomorrow (3pm).