JON Higgins says Dudley Kingswinford RFC’s ability to adapt is a key factor in their excellent form.

DK racked up another success with a hard-fought 27-13 win at Newport last weekend, to set up a top-of-the-table clash with National Three Midland leaders Rugby Lions on Saturday week.

Player-coach Higgins was delighted at how his side stayed patient in the face of some fairly negative tactics from the hosts before scoring three tries in the second half to seal the win.

He said: “It’s really encouraging, teams are throwing different stuff at us each week and we seem to be able to adapt to get the job done.

“Saturday was not the prettiest and I certainly would not have wanted to pay money to watch it but the important thing was we got the win.

“They clearly had a game plan to slow things down and keep the ball away from us.

“We spent a lot of time defending in their half but when we did get the ball we were clinical.

“Some of the boys were a bit disappointed with how we played but you can’t expect to run in eight or nine tries every week.”

DK now get a weekend off before meeting Rugby, who have won every game this season and are currently six points clear at the top.

Fellow player-coach Pete Knight will be hoping to start that game after marking his return from injury with an excellent display at Newport.

Flanker Knight came on at the start of the second half and earned the supporters’ man-of-the-match award as he forced several turnovers to wrest the initiative from the home side.

Higgins said: “Pete came back in and played really well but another factor in the second half was the referee started refeereing the breakdown.

“In the first half there had been some indifferent interpretations of the rules.”