By David Rhodes

Savage said his side were second best against Doncaster

Winger Andy Savage admitted Nottingham "did not want it" enough in their 25-15 defeat away at Doncaster Knights in the Championship play-offs.

The Green and Whites where outmuscled by a physical Doncaster side eager to avenge two defeats this season.

Savage told BBC Radio Nottingham: "We just did not want it. We did not make any tackles.

"I think we all came out after last week thinking we were rock stars and just did not perform."

Nottingham missed 17 tackles in the first half against a Doncaster side that offered very little in attack, and looked unlikely to score without the help of Nottingham's lacklustre defence.

The Green and Whites had started the brighter of the two sides with centre Ben Johnston crossing for the first try after three minutes.

We've got two games against London Welsh and I'd say we need to win both of them if we want to get to the semi-finals Andy Savage

But from the restart, Nottingham's defensive frailties were exposed when fly-half Greig Tonks failed to catch a speculative kick, allowing the home side to regain possession and put centre Bevon Armitage in for a try under the posts.

Nottingham then spent nearly 15 minutes camped on the Doncaster line at the end of the first half. But they failed to score a try, and this despite Doncaster being reduced to 14men when Ngalusele Ta'u was sin-binned for repeatedly infringing.

After the restart, the game opened up with both teams squandering opportunities to score early on.

A penalty saw Doncaster stretch their 15-10 interval lead to 18-10 before the visitors scored their second try of the afternoon.

Tonks, Tim Streather and Johnston combined to feed Ed Slater who ran in from 40 metres for his first try for the club.

But that proved to be the only high point in a disappointing second-half display.

The forwards struggled to provide the steady platform that they had achieved in previous games as the Doncaster forwards unsettled them at both the lineout and scrum.

And when the backs did get the chance to attack the Doncaster line, Nottingham too often made handling errors or kicked away possession.

Savage, whose side face London Welsh next week, tried to stay positive.

"Doncaster may well have done us a favour by switching us back on," he said.

"We've got two games against London Welsh home and away and I'd say we need to win both of them if we want to get to the semi-finals."

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