U16s' fitness and precision win the spoils v Ruislip

Maidenhead U16As 17 v Ruislip U16As 0

Sunday 6th December 2009

Despite a few days of heavy rain, Braywick's excellent drying character made good rugby possible on Sunday. Greasy on top and a bit thick lower down, the home forwards nevertheless had an excellent game.

Visitors Ruislip have put a hatful of points on Berkshire sides Abbey and Bracknell this season and must have thought they were in for more as they enjoyed 80% of the territory in the first half. For the second match in a row, Maidenhead faced a pack of forwards with a large size and weight advantage. And for the second match in a row, they soaked up the pressure and came out on top through technique, determination and, in the last quarter, superior fitness.

It did not look a likely home win when Ruislip drove the first maul fully 30 metres, won a penalty and kicked for the corner. They then unveiled probably the best lineout Maids have played against and drove again. Maids were fortunate to survive, Mike Winter bursting free with the ball and Fraser Brooks clearing long from the ruck.  Back came Ruislip and looked dangerous whenever the ball was above ground in the loose. Maids made their tackles and forced the ball to ground but were stripped and out-muscled time and again while hands were allowed. Once ruck was called they held their own and showed better skills and commitment.  The same pattern was evident right up until half-time; Maidenhead holding their own in the tight scrum and ruck but losing badly in the lineout and loose maul. It was frankly extraordinary that Ruislip failed to turn their dominance into a single point.

In the backs, both sides struggled with a strong breeze across the pitch, making kicking effective only to one touchline. Luke Thomas hassled his opposing No.9 and disrupted the Ruislip halfback link, ensuring that their obviously extensive repertoire of set moves outside were generally executed way behind the gainline and seldom threatened to break through. Maids' backs defended stoutly and actually produced the best chances of the half, first inside centre Leo Smith breaking down the blind side and cutting through the cover for all of 40 metres before being hauled down. Dhruv Surya went close in the following move but the last pass went astray. So Maids finished the first half strongly but, in truth, were relieved to be level.

Maidenhead came out fast in the second half, Calum Hull ripping through straight from kickoff and setting up a series of attacking rucks. Faster ball from the base and Louis Basson and Smith started to find room and time to run and test the wider defence. Anderson was clear through after Smith's grubber kick but for a brilliant covering swoop by the fullback. Then Basson's kick and chase looked like a sure thing but the follow-up was over-enthusiastic and Ruislip won a penalty for diving over. The extra tempo clearly rattled them, however, and a crazy decision to run from so deep was to cost them dear. A dropped ball, Maidenhead scrum at 10m out, Brooks, Smith, Anderson, Olivier and Andrews-Jones all in running and passing movements to left and right. Ball kept alive, recycled by forwards now full of energy and aggression. Basson snipe to the left 3 metres short, offload to Winter's run to the right and suddenly there was just no defence there any more as he ran in under the posts. Classic pressure rugby. Brooks converted for a 7 point lead.

Could Ruislip come back and reassert their early dominance? Far from it. Maidenhead continued to press forward and camped in the red zone for a sustained assault on the line. Pick and drive and drive again until all the Ruislip forwards were sucked in and neutralised, quick hands out to Anderson on the right wing, still with some work to do. Feint out, step in; spin in the tackle and reach out for the score. A really good backs' try made possible by grunt up front. The previously dominant Maroon pack now looked like they were treading water at the Ruislip Lido. Great place, by the way, Cliff Richard filmed The Young Ones there and it's drier than Newbury.

There was one more try, again a result of suffocating pressure on a clearly tiring side. Ruislip won lineout ball near their own line but the first kicker's route to safety was cut off. Two passes later the defender was isolated in-goal behind his own posts. The percentage decision must be to touch down but how often do you see the hopeless clearance kick? Sure enough straight to Markus Olivier on the left wing. To his credit the kicker chased up fast and got hold of his man but Olivier produced a sublime one-handed offload to the looping Andrews-Jones who ran into the corner to settle the score at 17-0.

Messrs Hull, O'Flaherty, Hine, Avery, Trevena, Reid, Baxter, Kaye, Balfour, Winter, Tolan and McCulloch played in the forwards for Maids U16s today. Ruislip probably thought all 12 of them were on the field at the same time.

Squad: Hull, O'Flaherty, Avery, Tolan, Hine, Reid, Baxter, Trevena, Winter, Kaye, Balfour, Basson, Thomas, Brooks, Smith (capt.), Andrews-Jones, Olivier, Surya, Anderson, Eckles