BOURNEMOUTH head coach Will Croker has praised unsung hero Toby Kenneally for keeping his place in the face of some fierce opposition.

Lock forward Kenneally has made 14 consecutive appearances for Lions and has become one of the first names on Croker’s team-sheet.

Born in England, he moved to New Zealand as a youngster and learned the ropes playing a good level in the northern hemisphere.

Kenneally pitched up at Bournemouth in the summer following a spell in the Dutch Premier League and has made a huge impression on Croker and his team-mates.

He is again expected to start when play-off chasing Lions host National Three South West high-fliers Dings in a crucial clash at Chapel Gate tomorrow (2pm).

Croker told the Daily Echo: “Toby is very much a Kiwi in his attitude. There are no airs and graces and he is an uncompromising player and trainer.

“He trains as hard as he plays and expects the other guys in the team to care as much as he does. He has fairly exacting demands on what he believes a player at our level should be doing, both in terms of their time away from rugby as well as at it.

“He has been a really positive influence and the other guys respect him enormously.

“He is not the biggest for a lock and, if it wasn’t for Jack Hennings, he would probably play a lot more at six.

“He just gets on with his work. He is gritty and hard and allows the ball players around him to do their jobs because he does all their hard work. He has done everything we would ask of a lock who plays in that way.

“In our last game at Cleve, he made a fantastic line-break and carried the ball for 30 or 40 metres. But that’s not necessarily what he’s in the team for.

“He is in the team to provide good, quality ball whether that be scrummaging, line-outs or careering out of breakdowns. That’s what he has given us.

“He started the first two games, which we lost, and then had a week out. Since he has been back, we have had no cause to question his position in the side.

“We have a lot of good locks who are all champing at the bit to play first-team rugby but Toby has relatively serenely kept his place so we are delighted with him.”

Dings, who edged a 27-23 win over Lions in Bristol in October, arrive in Dorset having surrendered top spot following back-to-back defeats at the hands of Old Reds and Newton Abbot.

Bournemouth have chalked up five home victories on the trot but saw their winless run on the road extend to six matches following a 22-13 defeat at Cleve six days ago.

“We are going to have to be better this week because it is going to be a very tough game,” added Croker.

“Fortunately, results went our way last week which meant we didn’t lose any ground on second place. But it was a lost opportunity, an opportunity for us to pull within nine points of Dings.”