The first match of a new season is always an exciting and nervous time and an away game without a full training session under our belt hadn't given us any opportunity to see how much "rust" was there from the off season.
The boys and parents who arrived in Bournemouth were greeted by blue skies, a firm pitch and no wind.....perfect conditions for a rugby match.
Bournemouth started quickly putting Gensians under pressure from the first kick off and almost immediately this turned into a penalty 20 meters out for Bournemouth which, luckily for us, was missed.
This sparked Gensians into action and a period of fierce and flowing rugby ensued, punctuated by a few handling errors and a dubious refereeing decision. Gensians began to get the upper hand and clear the ball away from contact more cleanly and clear rucks faster which moved them down field and to within scoring range. A fine run down the wing from a combination of forwards and back resulted in a penalty about 10m out. Callum O. took the tap and powered over for the score, a difficult angle to convert from and the kick dropped short of the posts. 5-0 Gensians.
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> With possession changing hands regularly Gensians began to get their defence more organised and put Bournemouth under more pressure. Following a couple of near misses Brad W. snagged an interception and ran half the pitch with 4 or 5 defenders in hot pursuit to score in the corner.... I think he was grateful that we were playing down hill in the first half! Again a very difficult conversion attempt that fell a little short. 10-0 Gensians
Half-time couldn't come soon enough for both sides and with a change of ends and personnel there was a change in fortunes for Bournemouth. Once again they started quickly and put Gensians under pressure, both sides being very physical in the tackle and ruck areas and better ball retention resulting in longer periods of defence. Bournemouth moved the ball well and finally found a way around the Gensians' defence for a score with an excellent conversion to bring the score to 10-7 and this was followed shortly after by another try and conversion combination to allow B'Mouth to lead 14-10.
Working uphill the Gensians boys dug in and came back hard, disrupting the Bournemouth backs and winning good ball, again a combination of forwards and back combined in multiple phases to put debutant Josh T. over for a score in the corner. 15-14 Gensians.
Back came B'Mouth with around 10 minutes remaining, and with tired legs beginning to show on both sides, gaps began to appear and B'Mouth were over for a third score and conversion 21-15.
Gensians were not giving up or holding back and the last few minutes saw them camped on the Bournemouth line with tough and creative play really testing the home team defence. An injury stopped what could have been a final scoring chance for Gensians and from a resulting turnover Bournemouth cleared their lines and the game was over. 15-21 to Bournemouth the final score but a hugely entertaining game, lessons learned and a great benchmark for everyone involved.
Every one of the team should be proud of how they played their part and gave 100%, the communication and organisation for the majority of the game was superb, the desire to take risks and be creative right from the off was great to see and almost had the desired effect of delivering a win. Great support from all the parents who travelled down to Bournemouth and a big thanks to the rest of the coaching and support team for getting a team on and back off the field in one piece!
Mawgan Wilkins