Disappointing first round loss no blow to Rugby's confidence looking forward

Rugby were rolled for 115 and 130 against the Tigers but Bower said that loss is forgotten and his side is fully focussed on today's clash with Macquarie at No. 3 Oval.

"We've got a fair bit of talent in our side and we're a young side too but we know we've got the talent to beat any team and we'll still be the team to beat at the end of the season, I'm not too worried about losing one game," he said.

Bower described his team's performance against Newtown as "miserable" and admitted an effort similar to that will see them struggle against the Blues as well.

Macquarie, ravaged by player departures over the off season, showed plenty of fight against Souths in the opening round but eventually went down by 27 runs, despite a century from veteran Justin Gavin.

"They'll be alright, they were grand finalists last year so they're not just going to fold, they're still going to be competitive," Bower said of Macquarie.

"They'll be hard to beat and we'll need to bring our best game, we can't slacken off because they're good enough to take advantage."

Aidan Bennewith was a shining light for Rugby's batting lineup last week, making 57 and 35 as those around him crumbled but Bower said it was more the mental aspect of the game which saw his side fail.

"We'll still play like we normally do, we're not going to change the way we play cricket but we've got to get our concentration back and focus on winning, just because we won it last year doesn't mean it will be handed to us," he said.

"We've just got to get back in the swing of things and we'll be fine."