RUGBY UPDATE: Lack of cutting edge costs Fairford

A LACK of cutting edge left Fairford pointless before the Christmas break.
The defeat to Devizes was Fairford's first loss in three matches, having beaten Cricklade away and then Trowbridge Seconds in the past two games after a heavy thumping at home to Marlborough late last month.
However, Fairford stay in third spot in the league by two points from Melksham after the fourth-placed outfit lost 16-12 at Minety.
The victory for Devizes, though, puts them into the mix in the battle for third place behind run-away leaders Marlborough and Combe Down, who went head-to-head on Saturday.
Devizes are now just three points behind Fairford and have a better points difference.
It could have been so different had Fairford won this encounter and put breathing space between them and their challengers.
The opening stanza was cagey with neither side creating much in the way of chances, although Devizes edged territory and the lineout whereas Fairford were superior in the scrummage.
The home side went ahead with a try from nothing. Chris Tanner made a fine break from a scrum on half-way and an exchange of passes between the returning Roberts and Tanner set up an opportunity for another returnee, Pete Mason, who finished the game as man of the match, to score.
Fairford failed to keep the pressure up, however, and almost immediately from the restart, Devizes pulled back a try as a quick penalty gave them the chance to spread the ball wide and score in the corner.
The hosts lacked any real conviction in their play and too often gave away needless penalties to relinquish possession.
Devizes took more of a foothold in the game as Fairford struggled to maintain any continuity and largely fed off scraps, where Devizes were much more composed which assisted them in scoring two more tries.
The home team had a purple patch in the second-half as they started to find some rhythm and scored two good tries.
The first saw Chris Tanner driving over from short distance, while the second saw centre Ben Crocker running a good line off Will Bowers.
Both tries came from good pressure in the scrum and strong phase play beforehand.
Fairford showed then what they were capable of but unfortunately were not able to replicate it for the rest of the game as Devizes finished with a yellow card and another try to give them the bonus point.