A challenge out West

Thankful for a warmer night than we had anticipating, Hampstead U13 headed to the far west yet again, this time for Ruislip. Driving past an RAF base next to the clubhouse definitely emphasised a bit of difference. This was going to be a challenge for the boys, with friendlies against two very big clubs, both in numbers and in player size. Once those who were able to make it had arrived, we had a few minutes to get organised, and a thin team was ready to get stuck in.

Our first match was Old Grammarians - a mixed team for them including As and Bs, and a couple that looked the size of coaches. The boys started out being pushed back into our half, but resisted well for the most part. We did have some issues with ball security at the rucks, as well as hands in the cold, wet weather, meaning we couldn’t build phases to build out. The boys did well though to concede only one, and even that was unfortunate with confusion about the goal line. We then had a great run from deep, putting a speedster into space to beat the entire OG team. The second half was another tight battle, where the boys were shading it with much more territory than in the first. Despite the efforts, however, couldn't quite punch through and the game finished as a draw.

Quickly back into the second match against Ruislip, testing our resources as injuries had already started to reduce our playing numbers. This started with much stronger rucking, managing to keep the ball and build territorial pressure (coupled with a pretty dominant set piece). When we slacked off for a moment, however, we were punished for missing one, with a power runner going through pretty untouched. The boys kept their heads up though and a combination of power runs and repeated infringements from the other side saw them build pressure and eventually crash over in the corner to tie at the half.

The last quarter of the day turned out to be a step too far for us: injuries mounting, dropping numbers on the pitch to match Ruislip leaving us in formations we weren’t used to and hard to match the sheer individual size of their runners in more open space. The boys conceded a few tries, with the change of referee not helping (clearly not trained with Andrea’s precision), but they can hold their heads up high after a good day of rugby.

And once more : Happy Birthday Andrea and thanks for spending it with us (at least partially)