Doncaster Knights: Sam Olver absolved of blame for Nottingham defeat

But no-one, least of all director of rugby Clive Griffiths, was blaming on-loan fly-half Sam Olver for missing a last minute penalty which would have secured Knights the spoils.

“It was a pressure kick and you couldn’t blame Sam for the defeat because he’d kicked well all game,” said the Welshman, a renowned kicker in both codes during his playing days.

“He kicked two conversions from out wide as well the late penalty which put us in front prior to conceding the penalty at the other end.”

Although Griffiths admits that had Olver won the game for Knights there would have been a different atmosphere in the camp he added that there would still have been questions needing answers at Monday’s review session.

“There were too many players on the day who didn’t play to the best of their ability, though there were exceptions such as Paul Jarvis who cut inside well for his try,” he said.

“He was my man-of-the-match.”

The game saw the return of second-rower Tom Hicks following a long spell on the sidelines and a debut off the bench for new signing Dwayne Polataivao.

“It was good to see Tom back and he lasted the game well,” said Griffiths, who was also pleased with the contribution of the Samoan scrum-half.