Colchester Rugby Club make it four wins from four

But they were made to work hard by Letchworth before pulling away in the closing stages to win, 51-13.

Colchester head coach Craig Burrows said: “I felt we were still on the bus for the first 25 minutes.

“We ended up with a very good result.

“We played some really outstanding rugby in the last ten minutes of the game.”

Colchester rung the changes with Elliot Siddle, Yuki Takimura and Jonah Varela starting in the backs and number 8 Harrison Pickett the only change up front.

On a fine but breezy day, Colchester were slow out of the blocks but a sharp half-time talking to saw a very different performance, after the break.

Letchworth drew first blood, centre Richard Streets scoring from a rolling maul.

But Colchester were level minutes later, Jacob Bodkin finishing a move involving forwards and backs.

Playing into the breeze and a low sun, Colchester’s tactical kicking was off-beam while unforced errors by both teams made it a pretty scrappy affair.

On the half hour Jimmy Mpailane surged to the line only for the ball to be knocked on.

But moments later a good break by Hamish Comonte was taken on by Takimura with Danny Whiteman crossing for Colchester’s second try.

Letchworth kicked a penalty but Colchester made it 15-8 at the break, Francois Rossouw’s remarkable scoring spree continuing as the hooker got the final touch from a rolling maul.

Callum Jeffery, on his first appearance since returning to Colchester, replaced Alex Mitchell and Letchworth made it 15-13 through Ben Wilkinson’s try.

But from then on, it was all Colchester.

With Corey Button on for Jayden Boshoff, Colchester bagged the bonus point through Whiteman’s second try and after Oli Pickett replaced brother Harrison, Rossouw crossed for his ninth try of the season, inevitably from a maul.

Colchester turned the screw with four further tries, three converted by Button.

First Bodkin finished off a lovely move involving Siddle and Varela. Oli Pickett then found himself in open ground as he ran for the line before Varela pinched the ball to score number eight.

The final try was deserved reward for Matt Edison, one of the unsung and largely unseen heroes of the Colchester pack who has had a fine start for his new club.

Nine tries was eye-catching but not for the first time this season the victory was built on defence, especially given the long periods early on when Colchester scarcely had the ball.

Top of the tackle charts was Hamish Comonte who put in a remarkable shift, tackling anything which moved as though his life depended on it.

He deservedly won player-of-the-match, sponsored by The Lexden Crown.

“Hamish set the example for everyone to follow,” added Burrows. “At one point he made five tackles in a row. He was outstanding.”

Colchester host mid-table Old Northamptonians on Saturday (3pm).