RHS are sunk!

Felsted U16 A v RHS Holbrook (A)

Result: Won 10-48

Tries:

Cons:

Pens:

On Tuesday, we travelled down to a windy RHS Holbrook, in the hope of avenging last year’s extraordinary 41-39 loss.  On the back of an outstanding performance on Saturday, the confidence in the squad was very high, and within two minutes, a back row move down the right had put Dan Benson in for the opening try.  Soon after that a cross field kick from Rory Hutchinson was gathered by Max Paulin, and after a couple of phases of play, James Seager crossed on the left.  With Hutchinson on target again, the lead was already 14-0.  Unfortunately, with the game at our mercy, we produced some sloppy play, failing to retain possession, and allowing ourselves to lose the ball out of the back of a 5m scrum, resulting in a long range RHS counter attack.  Having kept this out, we struck back, with full back Miles Singleton breaking through from 30m out, to go under the posts (see video clip below), again converted. From the restart, again we seemed to relax, and allowed RHS to regain possession, and following a sequence of close drives, they crossed our line.  Frustration was growing, as a 21-5 lead, having played with the wind, was not a guarantee of success.  There was just time, though, for us to gather our thoughts, and strike back with a good try from Singleton on the wide right, to give us a 26-5 half time break.  With injury concerns to James Halfhide and Harry Robins, and a strong wind to contend with, we still needed to up our game.  Fortunately, this was achieved, and Adam Sellers scored after a good period of possession.  RHS did come back hard at this point, and scored after we conceded a penalty for handling on the ground.  The scrappy nature of the game (one example in the videos below) was not helped by a lack of clarity over what was allowed at the tackle area, and frustration could have got the better of us, but showing the greater mental steel that has been a feature this year, the boys struck back with three more tries into the wind, with Max Paulin touching down, after good continuity from a tap penalty, and Miles Singleton completing his second consecutive hat trick.  The game finished with a very well worked back row move (video below), which ended with Dan Benson scoring on the right. On reflection, it was a good game to win – away games are always a challenge, and conditions were not suited to fluent rugby.  But, the team was disappointed not to be able to reproduce the sustained excellence of Saturday, and ball retention, coordination in defence, and alertness to the situation are all areas that can be better.

Man of the Match: Ben Warner

This Saturday, Brentwood are not able to field under 16 teams, so there will be training for the squad, although a good number will be used in 1^st and 2^nd team match day squads.  There is an additional fixture for Tuesday, with a home game against Westcliff, kicking off at 2.30pm.

Felsted U16 B v RHS Holbrook (A)

Result:

Tries: C Misell, Mclaren

Cons:

Pens:

The start of the match was very scrappy and relatively poor in terms of our play in forwards and backs alike. The wind played havoc with passing and line-outs meaning we lost the majority of the line-outs with the wind and won them against. We had a couple of good breaks but with no result as the pace of their main player was much too great. The game provided us with a lot of defensive work, which we very much improved on in the second half. Bad discipline from the opposite side and a very one-sided ref aided our loss but nevertheless a lot can be learned from this game. Special mention to Tim Stiles for making some incredible tackles saving many a try and Sam Seacombe and George Bently for some good runs. [Report from Sam Payne] I am aware that I have yet to post any footage of the B team; rest assured that I will make this a priority for the next fixture.

Man of the Match: Tim Stiles