What’s going on? Rugby being played on our home ground on a Sunday? Against another team? Spring must have arrived early.
An unplanned fixture against Tadley was offered to our Development side at short notice, after the amount of rugby we’ve missed over the past few weeks it would have been churlish to decline. Tadley arrived with only 11 players, but as we had a squad of 21 for the fixture it gave some of our lads the chance to get full games, albeit for the Black & Yellows.
Tadley kicked off the first game & started the way they meant to go on, keeping the ball tight with their huge forwards! Why are ‘Ensians always smaller than the opposistion? Within a couple of minutes the driving pressure of Tadley paid off with a well executed try. Not to be downhearted ‘Ensians started to move the ball about the back line, sniping runs from Ryan & Damon gained ground. Our forwards started to secure ball. The eventual equalising try came from concerted pressure from the forwards & Alex Williams crashing over from close range. Tadley came back strongly & from a penalty 5 metres out crashed over with their big lad. Tackling low would possibly have stopped him, but that’s easier said than done. The game now opened up with both sides trying to get their backs into play. Jason McG, playing 10 for Tadley, was an ever present thorn in the ‘Ensians side (Not an unusual occurance) & Charlie Steele at 9 for Tadley continued to provide decent ball for their quick backs to use. The equalising try for ‘Ensians came from another 5 metre penalty, this time Ryan crashed over with half of the ‘Ensians pack attached to him. With little time to play the game was decided by another close in try, this time Bryn burrowed over from short range.
Final Score – Ensians 15 Tadley 10
The second game kicked off after a suitable break, this time Oscar assisted Tadley out with help from Richard Catlin at Scrum Half! Whether it was our larger squad that made the difference or whether it was our notoriously slow starts, this game was entirely one sided. Bryn showed real class from No8 scoring 3 tries, including one classic catch & drive from a line out. Alex Williams added another try for his brace & an easy 20-0 win was achieved.
The final match was probably a step to far for both sides. Balls were knocked on, passes went astray & the scrum started to creak. After 15 minutes of play the ref got bored & blew for full time with the score still at 0 – 0.
Overall our lads can be proud of the way they played today against a genuine 1st Team. The scrum was as solid as it’s been for a long time, a testament to the work Steve A & Richard put in prior to kick off, also a testament to the way the forwards listened & learned. There’s work to be done with the backs, but all the players have the talent to turn it on when they need to. Finally, in the face of a couple of off the ball incidents our lads kept their cool & ran out victors on the pitch where it matters.
Hopefully Master Scribe will return from his homeland in time to write a decent report for future fixtures with more reference to 70’s comedy shows & less about rugby!