Smith happy with Trophy rehearsal

Henry Trinder crossed twice on his return from parent club Gloucester

Moseley's dress rehearsal for the EDF Energy National Trophy Final against Leeds ended in a narrow 31-26 defeat at Billesley Common in National One.

A brace of second-half tries from Henry Trinder frayed Leeds nerves as they squandered a 28-5 advantage.

"In terms of the result, that can brings its own pressures," Moseley coach Ian Smith told BBC WM.

"Leeds after today will take us seriously in the final; they will be out not to make the same mistake."

The game, two weeks before the sides are due to meet at Twickenham, looked like being a comfortable win for table-toppers Leeds, thanks to tries from Rhys Oakley (two), Jon Goodridge and John Pendlebury.

Only an opportunist try from on-loan Gloucester wing Dan Norton got Moseley on the board, shortly before half-time.

But Trinder's pair of scores and a neat move that saw Tristan Roberts cross the line made for a nervous finish, the home side claiming two priceless bonus points in their battle against relegation.

Smith feels the League table does not really reflect the quality Moseley are capable of producing.

"Like any sport, consistency is the key to it," said the former Scotland flanker. "On our day, we can be very, very good; another day we can be quite poor.

"The first couple of scrums, in the words of the front row, we underestimated them, but after that the scrum settled down quite well - it was quite a brutal game really, quite a physical game."

Moseley have benefitted this season from a link-up with Premiership Gloucester, with a number of players on dual registrations, including Norton and the returning Trinder.

"Trinder's been with us all season, [then] he's been called back to Gloucester the last four or five weeks and played in three Premiership games, which was terrific for him really," Smith noted.

"It's good to see this sort of link-up working."

Before concentrating on their Twickenham rematch with Leeds, Moseley must continue their fight against the drop when they host the Bedford Blues on Saturday (1500 BST).