HEREFORD head coach Scott Sturdy told his players to "look in the mirror not out of the window looking for excuses" after they suffered a 46-12 defeat at Malvern.

The Wyesiders, on the back of beating Ludlow last week, suffered the worst possible start shipping three tries to find themselves 17 points down within ten minutes.

The Hereford forwards responded and after 20 minutes a clever chip over the Malvern defence allowed Levi Hughes to touch down for Hereford.

However, this was a false dawn and the hosts added two further tries before the interval to take the tally to 29-5.

The injury jinx hit again and Neil Clarke, Fran Jennings, Rory Edwards and Nathan Boden all had to leave the field.

The game had to go to uncontested scrums, leaving Hereford to play the final 25 minutes with 14 men.

Their side was further reduced to 13 when Hughes was yellow carded with 15 minutes to go.

Malvern added three second half tries to a single Hereford contribution when the Wyesider’s pack drove to the Malvern line for Gareth Jones to touch down for a try.