Rugby in general, and the Hampstead u14s in particular, seemed to be one of the only sports going ahead in the tail end of Storm Darragh - waking up to 6 degrees with eight degrees of wind chill definitely made the trip to west London feel like a challenge. Luckily Wasps have some good drainage on their pitches, and the back field actually felt pretty good underfoot as we arrived for an early kickoff.

In the first part of the game the Hampstead boys were on top, maintaining good territorial dominance, and winning a few turnovers, but just missing the cutting edge to really slice Wasps open. The blitz defence (at the borders of legality) definitely put the boys under pressure, but eventually counterpressure exerted by the willing defence told, and a weak Wasps kick was taken back for a first try in the corner. That try did seem to galvanise wasps a bit, and they started to build more territory, helped by few Hampstead errors. They eventually scored out wide to equalise, and unfortunately kept that pressure up, helped by a bit of the rub of the green on the refereeing decisions. Another try just before half time saw Hampstead run in down by 5 pts.

The second half saw the Hampstead boys continue to put pressure on Wasps, doing their best to handle the high pressure defence. The territory started to tell, but a quick kick into an empty space saw a wasps back break away and eventually dot down under the posts. Down two tries, the team rallied and kept up the pressure, even starting to get a little bit more luck from the referee. It was also great to see the Hampstead scrum get completely on top, even winning a couple of balls against the head. After a few penalties, including a called back try, the boys eventually scored a good team try to bring it back within one score with three minutes left. Some pressure of the kickoff, and eventually a loose kick found its way to one of the Hampstead backs - a long range try up the wing brought the score within two. A very difficult conversion for the draw -- that unfortunately fell short. A two point loss (3 tries all) was a great effort in difficult conditions, and definitely one of the best defensive performances they've had this year. On to next week, and then a well deserved break.

Author: Andrew Honan (U14 coach)