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U16s all over Reds with half century Maidenhead
U16s 52 v Redingensians U16s 0 Sunday 21st March 2010 |
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For the second week in a row, rugby correspondents from around the world flew in to watch Redingensians U16s. El Observador of Montevideo were there, as were Diario Hoy and Clarin of Buenos Aires. Conspicuous by their absence however were The Sunday Times and The Sun, each apparently preferring to follow up trivial showbiz gossip in Paris and Newbury respectively. The gentlemen of the press were treated this time to eight unanswered tries and six conversions for the Maidenhead hosts. No doubt they also enjoyed hearing that the Maidenhead RFC Under 16s Argentina and Uruguay 2010 tour party had set a new World Record of 8,762 tackles in one hour at the Nicholson Centre the previous day. (Mike Winter seemed not to realise that the record attempt was over, tackling anything that moved as usual, which was no bad thing as the squad were clearly feeling the effects of the day before and a number of regular starters were missing as a result). Lawrence MacSwan opened the scoring after only two minutes, powering through ineffectual defence from halfway. Maids then spent a quarter of an hour making things look as complicated as a tango routine and failing to run straight. Perhaps those 8,762 tackles were still in their legs and that red dress was still in their heads. At length MacSwan broke through again and, brought to ground a metre short, popped to Daniel Andrews-Jones, whose charge was halted at the very limit. Redingensians cleared but only into the hands of Leo Smith who crashed through more weak tackling to score under the posts. Soon DAJ raced through and away and fed Markus Olivier on the left wing. Feinting inside and slowing, Olivier turned up the wick and burned up the outside track but was hauled down just short, the supporting DAJ and Tom Eckles just unable to finish off. 'Ensians had their own best spell of play, moving the ball in the backline and always threatening when their left winger could get in the play, or when their tighthead prop saw a chance for a tactical punt. But the half was to end with a superb team try for Maidenhead, as the forwards worked through phases from the 22 to halfway, Luke Thomas timed the spread perfectly and MacSwan crashed through on Smith’s short pop. Olivier, looking for work off his wing, finished with brio. The half time score of 21 to nil was by no means flattering, spectators sensing that Maids were not yet playing at full speed. The second period started with DAJ slicing through the Reds defence seemingly at will. Close and closer he went, making tens of metres with every carry, tackled only at full stretch each time. The rest of the team followed up, recycling well and punching holes, causing chaos and making a try for Jacob Sanders, able to pick up from a short range ruck with defenders in disarray. The home scrum got on top too, with replacement hooker Jamie Tolan carrying on Nic Jones’s earlier good work and taking four against the head in his first few minutes on the pitch. From the fourth of these, stand-off Leo Smith received the ball standing still at the Maidenhead 10m with his outside backs still lined up defensively flat. With nothing much on, Smith just ran straight and hard, brushing aside the pursuit, and touched down under the posts. Redingensians looked demoralised now, and three more tries were to rub salt in the wound. First Smith completed his hat trick with a sweeping double loop set piece, greedily ignoring the three on one overlap it produced, and rejoicing in the expense to his father. Then Mike Winter galloped away down the right wing from 60 metres, after both sides had a spell of flinging it about with abandon and everybody else was puffed out. Finally Andrews-Jones deservedly got his name on the scoresheet after a brilliant break by Michael Anderson down the right. Choosing to come inside and keep the ball alive, Anderson floated a pass to Smith who shipped quickly on to the unstoppable DAJ to break the half century. Dom Bart slotted his sixth conversion to close the game out. As well as the irresistible class of the midfield and outside running backs, Maids are winning games because the forwards look fitter than their opposition. They are still running and tackling and competing for the ball deep into the last minutes of each match, unlike most of their opponents. It’s amazing what a diet of Soreen malt loaf, frozen pizza and peanut butter sandwiches can produce. One match to go, Home Park Windsor on 18th April. A draw would win the title but a hat trick of Berkshire Grand Slams is the aim. Be there. All the papers will be. Squad: |
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