LADY Luck has certainly not smiled on Ipswich Rugby Club too much this season.

Aaron Brown’s men are currently in the middle of a torrid run that has seen them fail to register a win in their last three games.

But director of rugby, David Broughton, revealed a subtext behind this sequence of results and fortune does not appear to have favoured the brave of late.

No less than 12 first XV regulars have been on the treatment table over the past month with captain Alex Primmer the latest to be crocked after learning he had broken his wrist, which he had played with for a number of games.

Fortunately, Ipswich had already amassed enough points to maintain their London Two North East status for another season before their injury jinx struck.

“The wheels fell off towards the end,” admitted Broughton, who along with head coach Aaron Brown is keeping his fingers cross for no further injuries when they travel to Chelmsford for their final league game of the season tomorrow.

“The last three or four games we had 12 first teamers out through injury and we have struggled at this level because of it.

“That’s not to be disrespectful to the people that have come in but we have not had a lot of luck with injuries.”

Broughton has been impressed at how well Brown has coped in adversity with the Kiwi coach never complaining about his lot.

“One of the things that Aaron has taught within the club is that it is useless to look back on the what ifs all the time,” added Broughton.

“It’s a waste of time and energy. It’s interesting to see how he responds to things and reflects the difference in attitudes between the northern and southern hemisphere.

“If there’s a problem, he will not moan and groan about it - he just wants to get on with it.”

The shame of it from an Ipswich point of view is that when the club could put its first choice XV out, they were a match for anyone in the division, including Thurrock, who have run away with the title losing just one match all season.

Ipswich have done the double over Sudbury, who look set to miss out on a promotion play-off place by the finest of margins to Colchester, and played a brand of running rugby that few have been able to match when they are on-song.

“After the Thurrock match, a few of their people came over to us and said they just couldn’t understand why we were so low in the table.

“We are the only team in the division that have pushed Thurrock so close and I just had to tell them that it has been down to injuries.

“You could argue that we should have more strength in depth but it’s difficult as you don’t want to block the pathway to the first team for any of the Colts coming through.

“Thurrock have been a cut above the rest this season but when we played them, they fed off our mistakes and we were the architects of our own downfall.

“The rest of the division is quite mediocre to be honest but it’s a difficult league to get out of.”

Broughton admitted the club will be glad to put this season behind them so they can concentrate on the next campaign, which they hope can signal a promotion drive.

Broughton wants to see Brown’s men climb up the rugby pyramid but admitted to really mix it in the higher leagues an injection of cash into the club would be needed.

“We want to get as high as we can but you also have to bear in mind that the higher up the pyramid you get the more money it costs.

“It’s a massive commitment as you get as you go up the leagues as there can be a lot of travelling involved.

“But we certainly feel like we can go up a couple of leagues though and we would like to get into National Three. We are certainly capable of getting promoted to London One in the near future.”

It perhaps wouldn’t hurt the club if Lady Luck did decide to make an appearance down Humber Doucy Lane for the 2010/11 campaign.