He said: “It was a very, very tough afternoon. But it was an awesome experience to be out there at headquarters.

“We missed too many first-up tackles and they were constantly well past the gain line by the time we stopped them. After that we were on the back foot.

“In the scrums, when I saw the way they pushed us back from the very start, I just knew it would be a very long afternoon,” he added.

“But we showed what we could do and when we scored just before half-time it was something we could build on. We had words with the team at half-time and made a couple of changes.

“We then scored straight after the restart and I thought we might just have a chance. But then Tunbridge Wells stiffened and we have could not make another breakthrough.”

St Benny’s weren’t helped by losing players in the build-up, but liaison officer Carruthers refused to use that as an excuse, and said: “Losing two players last week – Scott Wood who broke his leg and Mike Ramsden, whose wife is due to give birth today and couldn’t make the trip down – was a blow. But it would not have made a difference.

“The players who came in are all first-team players and they are certainly good enough.

“Tunbridge Wells are a good physical team and they were simply too fast, too strong and too powerful us.”

But Carruthers was also full of praise for his team.

“Dreams are made of this, coming to Twickenham, the home of rugby. It has been a fantastic experience and we have really enjoyed ourselves,” he added. “This is an amazing stadium and only Kurt Maudling from our team had played here before.

“Steve Wood should have played here in 1998, with the Under-20s, but he broke his arm a week before the game.

“He will probably be retiring after this season. He’s not sure, the mind is willing but I’m not sure his body can cope.”