BOURNEMOUTH prop Luca Firetto said their preparation laid the groundwork for their 33-18 South West Premier bonus-point win at Exeter University.
The table toppers ran in a total of five tries in Devon to seal the season double over the seventh placed side following November’s 34-15 home triumph.
But the tight-head said the hard work had been put in on the training paddock during the week by coaches Will Croker and Jon Sanchez.
He said: “Playing against these young guys took me back about ten years to when I was playing at university, because they were really hard to keep up with.
“But we rehearsed well during the week and we knew what was going to be coming at us which really helped give us a bit of an edge.
“We knew what they were going to be about, and we had watched them play and I think we put in some defensive shifts out there.
“Some of our patterns were absolutely fantastic which really helped so we were really, really happy with that.”
Firetto said when you come up against younger and fitter legs, you have no choice but to revert back to the reliability and the basics of your set-piece.
Therefore, Will Croker’s men excelled in the scrum and lineout against the students and it paid dividends with their 20th win out of 21 games this season.
Bournemouth now welcome fifth placed side Exmouth to Chapel Gate on Saturday, having triumphed 31-13 in Devon back in November, looking to secure another double.
He added: “We were absolutely made up with doing the double over Exeter University for the season, and we knew they were going to be tough because they are quick and physical lads.
“A lot of their players play twice a week so to get the double over them for the season is testament to how we are going about our business this year.
“So we now have lots of confidence going into Exmouth this week because I think we really stepped it up today against Exeter University from our last performance against Drybrook.”