Richmond director or rugby Steve Hill declared himself pleased as punch with his side’s National League One campaign, despite finishing with a final day defeat at Esher.

After a first half of the season Hill has turned the form book on its head to finish seventh-place in the league table, having won seven of their 10 matches prior to Saturday’s 31-17 defeat at Molesey Road.

And, while the loss to Esher was a disappointing one, Richmond have already begun their preparations for next season.

“I’m immensely proud of what they have achieved, they have done incredibly well,” said Hill.

“We had a really tough start to the season and had a spate of serious injuries that really affected us.

“But we have been looking great since Christmas and picked up some really tremendous wins against good sides.

“I think our away record has just been incredible and we’ve gone to tough places and got some five point victories.

“It’s an incredibly competitive league with some really fantastic teams so you really have to be on your metal every week.

“We have a young squad with an average age of around 23 so none of these players are going to be over the hill any time soon.

“We’ve got more young lads pushing for a place so we are a team that has a good base and we will continue to build on that.”

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