England's heroics in the World Cup final almost proved costly for Haywards Heath.

They started poorly at Basingstoke before going on to win their National Division Three South match 42-7.

The whole squad watched the dramatic events in Sydney together before heading off to Hampshire, but the fact the final went to extra time meant they arrived 40 minutes later than usual.

Skipper Alex Meredith said: "Our preparation was not the same as normal and it showed in the first 15 minutes but we came back strongly and deserved to win."

After conceding an early try, Heath responded with a penalty from Hugh Griffin followed by a penalty try which Griffin converted before Dave Wattam touched down to give them a 15-7 half-time lead.

Heath cut loose after the break with Will De Gruchy scoring an early try and, as their forwards took control, there were further scores for Adam Phillips, Glen Rankin and Griffin.

Paul Flood was given a hostile reception on his first return to former club Rye after switching to local rivals Hastings and Bexhill in the summer.

Flood had played for Rye for five seasons and was the main target in a bad-tempered Sussex One match which Hastings won 36-0.

Hastings' lead was just 15-0 going into the final 15 minutes, courtesy of tries from Paul Northern and Jimmy Adams and a Neil Redman conversion. But they pulled away in the closing stages of the match. Danny Ralph, Robert Sparks and David Northern all touched down while skipper Redmand also went over to add to his three conversions as he collected the man-of-the-match award.

The only other matches in the county took place in Sussex One.

Crowborough beat Norfolk Arms 22-6 and Heathfield and Waldron won 30-15 against Seaford while in Sussex Three Shoreham beat Robertsbridge 15-7, Plumpton won 16-12 at Arun and Ditchling defeated Barns Green 18-3.

Report by Stephen Hollis, sports@theargus.co.uk