Director of rugby Steve Hill was expected a rough ride in the opening month of the  season and has confessed to having some sympathy for his men after Saturday’s heartbreak, writes Paddy von Behr.
 

Richmond fell to a third straight defeat at the Athletic Ground as they crashed 34-31 to a last-gasp Coventry penalty.

It followed defeats to promotion-chasing Esher and Rosslyn Park, but Hill insisted Richmond’s league position could have looked very different at this stage.
 

“We were expecting a very tough September,” he said.
 

“If all the coaches looked at the teams they would have put Esher, Rosslyn Park and Coventry all in the top half of the table.
 

“There are never going to be easy games in this division, everyone know that, but this year it has been especially difficult.
 

“Having said that, we should have beaten Esher, we should have got a bonus point against Rosslyn Park and we should have won on Saturday.
 

“You learn significantly more from a loss than you do from a win.”
 

Richmond had led 31-24 with 10 minutes remaining thanks to tries from Jamie Gibbs, Daniel Parkinson, Thomas George and Harrison Edwards, but were pipped at the post.
 

And Hill told his players to channel their frustration in to tomorrow’s trip north to Hull Ionians.
 

“I was really pleased by the way we played for most of the game,” he added.

“We played some creative and really ambitious rugby but a couple of times we had a lapse of concentration and that allowed them to get important scores.
 

“I felt sorry for the guys because they worked incredibly hard but it’s not over until it’s over. The guys will be frustrated but it was by far their best performance of the season so far.”
 

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