DISAPPOINTED Hereford RFC coach Alun Richards says his side need to learn from ruthless leaders Lichfield after suffering a 29-12 home defeat.

Two Lichfield tries in the opening 12 minutes gave the visitors 12 unanswered points followed by a penalty.

The Wyesiders responded before the break and a neat passing movement found Mark Philo on the wing who made no mistake in touching down for a try in the corner.

Lichfield made an impressive start to the second half with their pressure resulting in two further tries and the bonus point.

Sustained Hereford pressure eventually broke the visitors with five minutes remaining when a forward drive a forward drive into centre field released the ball for Philo to register his second try.

Hereford coach Alun Richards said: “I am disappointed with the result overall, but can’t fault any of the 18 players on the pitch.

"We asked the boys for more physicality, to play a phased game, retain ball and frustrate the opposition, which we did.

"The game showed how good Lichfield are and why they are top of the table.

"They were very clinical, two first half mistakes by us led to two tries in the first half and then the boys dug in deep to get back into the game by half time.

"Again, two mistakes early in the second half led to a couple more tries.

"It was particularly pleasing that the boys stuck at it for the full 80 minutes and got the reward of another try.

"Overall, I was very pleased with our performance, but it shows what the next level looks like.

"We’re not a top four side at the moment, but that’s what we’re aiming for, it shows what we have to work on now over the rest of the season in order to compete with teams like Lichfield."