JACO du Toit went on a points spree against Haywards Heath to put more breathing space between Southend and the relegation zone at Warner's Bridge on Saturday.

The South African winger clocked up 25 of the Seasiders' grand total, as Kevin Harman's team ruthlessly put the league's bottom club to the sword.

"All the lads did exactly what I asked of them," said Southend's director of rugby.

"This was a must win game for us and we got the result we wanted, as well as the bonus point.

"Haywards Heath may be bottom of the table, but not everybody is putting 45 points on the board against them, which was nice to see.

"This result puts us 13 points clear of the relegation places which should give us confidence to push on now and finish as high as we can."

Harman also had special words of praise for three players - Brad Tutua, John Collier and Ally Gavin - who were called up from Southend's second team, the Priors, to take part in this game.

"The lads who came in all did very well and showed me I can rely on them," added Harman, whose side remain ninth.

"They have taken their chance to play in the first team with both hands an shown me they want to stay there."

* Full rugby round-up in Tuesday's Echo