A spirited Mariners performance saw them take the lead midway through the first half of this First Division match at Nationals on Saturday, but they were ultimately overwhelmed by Renegades.

After trailing 10-0 -- 'Gades scoring through a converted Shane Gill try and a Phil Heaney penalty -- Mariners hit back.

Their first try was their best this season with an end to end display of great handling and support play. Captain Gavin Corcoran scooped up a loose ball from an attacking Renegades player who looked certain to score. He charged forward from his own goal-line and outran three would-be tacklers over 50 metres before off-loading the ball to the supporting Simon van der Weg who took two defenders out before handing to Steve Perez for a try in the corner.

This effort revived the slumbering Mariners and with plenty of adrenalin flowing, flanker Steve Robb and prop Deveray Noel-Simmons took the Gades on in the loose with some powerful surges in midfield.

The confidence generated from this aggressive open play and a series of well-taken rucks helped create another Mariners try within five minutes through strong running by centre Rob Morgan, nosing Mariners into the lead at 12-10.

But Gades soon followed with a pushover try which Phil Heaney converted before Robb was penalised for illegally using the boot in a ruck. Heaney slotted over the resulting penalty from close range, ending the first half at 18-12 in Renegades' favour.

There has been a noticeable improvement in Mariners loose play since the start of the season. And special mention should be made of Noel-Simmons, who has improved in leaps and bounds recently, particularly in ball retention and driving support play.

However, a prop must be a good scrummager first and foremost. And it is in the set pieces, scrummage and lineout, where Mariners have real problems.

On Saturday, they lost most of their own scrum possession and also failed to secure their own throw-in at the lineout.

Renegades, on the other hand, took full advantage of their superiority in the scrums and rolling mauls to control when and where they were going to strike.

In the second half, a resolute Mariners defence halted many attacks at their goal-line with desperate bone-crunching tackles.

Rod Stewart's first try in the second half was a beauty following a quickly taken penalty after Robb had been penalised again and sin-binned by referee Dennis Dwyer.

Stewart ran 60 metres and outstripped Mariners' defence for a diving corner try. Heaney was having a bumper day with the boot and with the score at 25-12, Gades started to dominate.

In the final ten minutes, the Mariners defence cracked and Jason Richards and Sam Alexander scored late tries from close range after a series of driving mauls. Heaney finished the day with a one hundred percent record of five conversions and two penalties for a personal tally of 16 points.

Teachers v Police ppd Both teams agreed on postponement as a result of lack of players through injury and Regiment duty.

Local rugby now comes to a grinding halt until after the World Rugby Classic (November 8-14) with league games resuming on November 21.