A superb grand finale to finish unbeaten in the league

After Easter, and finally a true spring rugby match: no longer worried about mud, now it was the hard ground. The Hampstead boys made the trip up the A1 to Hitchin with a thin squad at the end of the holidays (at least one only getting in at 3 am the previous night). Despite the lack of numbers though, it was a good team for the last league match of the season.

The boys started well, pinning Hitchin deep, and moving the ball well. Without overpowering the opposition, the boys’ hands were sharp enough to get the ball around the edge and start the try count mounting. The first part of the match was marred only by an injury, with the attack putting the tries over and the defence (though lacking some structure) doing enough to pin Hitchin in their half. After about the fourth try, the Hitchin boys were worried enough that they chose to kick off - taking territory instead of possession.

Hampstead has started strong enough that there was almost only one way to go, and that lull came with some indiscipline around the breakdown and retreating from penalties allowing Hitchin to march down the field. For the first time they were getting close to the Hampstead 22 with a real attacking position. The defence held though, and a good turnover allowed the boys to take possession back and resume normal progress, scoring a few more and going into the half up eight tries to nil.

Moving some players around at the half and trying out combinations slowed down the flow a bit, but the start of the second half still ended up being similar: Hampstead holding on to the ball and territory, but a bit less impetus meant that we couldn’t quite create the same pace to the holes on the edge. Still added a couple more tries, but the cutting edge was probably not quite the same. Hitchin started coming back into the match as well, continuing to fight to get a score. In the last quarter they had their best shot, repeated 5 m scrums and rucks. The boys fought incredibly hard to protect their line against a team that was very big and physical- hard tackles going in at the goal line and eventually winning a turnover. Overall, a lot of good work today against a team that wasn’t quite ready for the Hampstead pace and ball movement, though there remains a lot to work on in terms of collective defence and role discipline. Hope the injured recover quickly.